“The Belgian Restaurant’s Association wants the installation of the “anti-fraud” cash register for restaurants to be delayed, and is worried about the fact it could be potentially used maliciously by the fiscal services”, the association said in a press release on Wednesday. A cash register with the fiscal add-on will become obligatory in 2015. This year, establishments already had the option of installing what’s known as the “black box” voluntarily. The sector has not shown itself to be very enthusiastic. Only 1.2% of Horeca establishments installed the system, according to figures published by Le Soir in September.
Two weeks away from the obligatory installation of the “black box”, the Belgian Restaurant’s Association has made three comments. “The compensatory measures in the form of a reduction in social charges are not enough. Reductions in salary costs do not kick in until 2016”, say the association.
“Only two suppliers are available at the moment”. Finally, “no large level practical tests in real conditions have been done to prove the system works without any problems”, the association says.
“But what worries the restaurants most is the malicious and self-serving way the administration could use the system”, says Miguel Van Keirsblick, the General Secretary of the Belgian Restaurant’s Association. “Will the “black box” be used to check the staff’s work hours? To invade their privacy?”, he asks. The association is worried about retroactive effects of the cash register being installed.
“The government would do very well to decide to delay the obligatory installation of the system by at least a year, before Christmas”, says the press release.
The Belgian Restaurant’s Association is made up of chefs and restaurant managers from three regions in the country.
(Source: Belga)
