No Receipt, No Pay!

No receipt, No pay! Is a new way in which the Greek state is trying to reduce the "black" income of the companies by forcing them to register the real income they are making.

For example when you go to a coffee place, a tavern or even a supermarket, if they don't give you a receipt you are allowed to leave without paying. That is the official version. What they failed to mention is that generally, you receive the receipt after you pay so what you would actually need to do is ask for your money back. With the traditional and well known Greek temper though I don't see that negotiation going very well. 

What the politicians from this country haven't figured out yet or, even worse, they continue ignoring, is that there is no law in the world that Greeks can't find a way around to.

The law starts to have effects from the 12th of January 2013, meaning last Saturday. Businesses were testing their "way around" even from last year. Now, you will probably receive a receipt, so you won't be tempted to ask your money back but the value on the receipt will be, if you're lucky, one third of it. If you are vigilant and ask for explanations they will apologies and bring you your receipt or, even funnier, several receipts that other customers didn't take that add up to the sum of your order. 

The people though usually don't ask for receipts not to mention ask for their own receipts. That is why I believe that this law, for as nice and efficient as is could have been it's going to end up like the "smoking law". 

Like in all other European countries, smoking is forbidden in bars, coffee places and restaurants in Greece. The law exists, the fines are high, they even have a phone number where you can denounce places that allow smoking. What they don't have is someone to apply the law. And there is where the law becomes useless. 

The thing that is the hardest to change here but once changed it cold improve a lot of things is the mentality of people. Everything starts and ends there. For as long as they don't understand that they'll keep chasing around their tails. 

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