"Zappers" - are governments getting "zapped"?

Label

"Zappers" - are governments getting "zapped"?

Creator

• Schenk, A

Subject

• tax fraud
• tax evasion
• software

Language

eng

Summary

Business owners have probably evaded income and sales taxes by skimming cash from their sales receipts ever since countries first introduced such taxes. The software programmes that facilitate tax evasion are referred to as "zappers" (automated sales suppression devices) and "phantom-ware". Zappers are added to point-of-sale electronic cash registers (ECRs), and phantom ware is commonly factory installed. While phantom ware may be installed for non-tax avoidance business reasons, it can be used for illicit purposes as well. In this column, all such programmes are referred to collectively as zappers. The use of zappers to evade tax is reportedly a significant problem in the European Union, as well as in Canada, Brazil, Australia, and the United States

Citation source

In: International VAT monitor. - Amsterdam. - Vol. 21 (2010),

Language note

English