Cash registers believed to be zapping away state revenue [View all]

JACKSON – Computerized cash registers, designed to hide total sales made by merchants, could be costing the state millions of dollars in revenue, Mississippi Revenue Commissioner Herb Frierson says.

The high tech registers, known as “zappers,” or automated sales suppression devices, allow merchants to hide some of their sales, thus costing the state a portion of the 7 percent tax it assesses on retail sales.

“The zapper has two sets of books. Al Capone (the Chicago gangster who was convicted of tax evasion) would have loved it,” Frierson said recently during testimony to legislators at the state Capitol. “It has one set of books for tax purposes and another (true set of books) if you want to sell your business.”

An article in Bloomberg, based on interviews with state revenue collectors and other tax experts, estimates that the zappers are costing the states $21 billion annually in revenue. The article goes on to estimate that the zapper software is being used in 30 percent of all electronic cash registers in the nation. The zappers are believed to be especially prevalent in the restaurant industry.

Read more: http://www.djournal.com/news/cash-registers-believed-to-be-zapping-away-state-revenue/article_590b4ab9-ca6d-5179-ba42-e5d06ef62846.html