Restaurant owner reveals everything: This is how millions of euros were embezzled from the cash register
A recent investigation revealed a massive fraud operation in the restaurant sector in Austria, where some business owners managed to evade paying millions of euros in taxes, despite the fact that the use of electronic cash registers has been mandatory since 2016 to prevent tax fraud.
According to reports from the Ministry of Finance, the fraud was carried out through specially modified software that allows transactions to be deleted from the digital record after they occur, making it impossible for tax authorities to detect actual revenues. The process starts legally, as the customer orders their food and drinks, which are recorded in the cash register, but when paying in cash and the customer refuses a printed receipt, the transaction can be deleted from the electronic system immediately.
An industry insider, a former restaurant owner, revealed that some cash registers had a secret button that allowed the user to erase transactions when paying in cash, confirming that he rejected this practice despite its temptations, saying: 'No one would have known my sales volume if I had accepted.'
The scandal revelation led to the execution of about 50 search operations in several Austrian states, and many digital devices such as mobile phones, USB drives, and cash boxes were seized, the contents of which are currently being studied.
The main suspect, a software developer, was detained for a period of time. Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer from the SPÖ party confirmed that tax fraud is not a simple crime, but undermines the social state and the citizens' trust in the rule of law, and harms those who contribute honestly.