The lottery code
The customer generates it on the dedicated portal and shows it when paying.
VAT numbers · Retail trade
Electronic receipts and daily takings
The paper till receipt no longer exists: in its place there is a documento commerciale (the sales document handed to the customer) and a daily electronic transmission to the Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian Revenue Agency). The till does almost everything on its own, until it breaks down. That is when you need to know what to do.
01 · The obligation
Who must record and transmit daily takings
The obligation applies to retailers and similar businesses: everyone who, for the kind of sales they make, is not required to issue an invoice unless the customer asks for one.
| Activity | Obligation |
|---|---|
| Retail shops, bars, restaurants | Yes, electronic recording and transmission |
| Craftspeople selling to the public | Yes |
| Professionals | No: they issue invoices |
| E-commerce | Online sales follow their own rules. See e-commerce and OSS |
| Vending machines | Yes, with their own technical arrangements |
| Transactions exempted by law | Exempt, but they still have to be recorded |
Taxpayers under the regime forfettario (the flat-rate scheme) who run a retail business are also subject to the obligation: the simplified scheme concerns how income is calculated, not the obligations for certifying daily takings.
02 · How it is done
Which tools you can use to comply
There are three routes, each with different costs and features.
- The till must be registered and activated with the Revenue Agency by an authorised technician.
- It requires a periodic inspection by an authorised laboratory.
- The daily takings file is transmitted at the end-of-day closure.
- Invoices issued at the customer's request must be kept separate from daily takings, so that nothing is counted twice.
- The takings register is no longer compulsory for those who transmit electronically, except in the cases provided for.
Electronic till (registratore telematico)
This is the most widespread tool: it records each sale and sends the file of daily takings to the Revenue Agency on its own.
The Revenue Agency's web procedure
Free of charge and available in your personal area. It suits people with very few sales, because everything has to be entered by hand.
RT server
For businesses with several tills, which route the transmission through a single device.
The documento commerciale
It replaces the old fiscal receipt and must be handed to the customer. On request, you must issue the version valid for tax purposes, showing the customer's codice fiscale (Italian tax code).
03 · What the customer receives
What the documento commerciale is
It is the document the customer receives in place of the old fiscal receipt. It has no tax value for deductions, unless it is requested in the form that is valid for that purpose.
- It shows the date, the time, a sequential number, a description of the goods or services, the amount and the method of payment.
- At the customer's request it also shows their codice fiscale: this is needed to deduct the expense and to take part in the lottery.
- For healthcare expenses the document must allow the customer to be identified: see medical expenses deduction.
- It can be handed over in paper or digital form, following the arrangements provided for.
- It does not replace the invoice, which must be issued if the customer asks for one at the time of the sale.
- Returns and cancellations follow their own procedures on the till.
Invoice or documento commerciale
The customer chooses, but the choice has to be made on the spot.
- The request must be made at the time of the sale, not afterwards
- Issuing an invoice for a sale that has already been certified requires a reconciliation procedure
- If you invoice, you must exclude the sale from daily takings, so it is not counted twice
- It is the most frequent mistake in businesses that do both
04 · The emergency
What to do if the till stops working
This is where most mistakes are made, because it happens rarely and nobody remembers the procedure.
- The fault must be reported through the procedure in the Revenue Agency's personal area.
- You must call in an authorised technician, who puts the device back into service.
- In the meantime, sales must be recorded in an emergency register, in chronological order.
- The takings for the period when the till was out of service must be transmitted through the Revenue Agency's web procedure, within the deadlines.
- The customer must still be given a receipt for the sale.
- Failing to report the fault and failing to transmit are each penalised separately.
Believing that a breakdown suspends the obligation is the most expensive mistake: the obligation to record and transmit remains, and has to be met through the emergency procedure. A day of trading that is neither certified nor transmitted is a violation, not a technical hitch.
05 · The customer's code
The receipt lottery
A customer who wants to take part presents a code, and the shopkeeper must be able to capture it.
The shopkeeper's obligation
The till must be able to capture the code: it is a technical requirement of the device.
Refusal
A customer whose code is refused can report it to the Revenue Agency.
Payments
Taking part is linked to the payment methods set out in the rules in force.
Updates
Tills must be kept up to date with the technical specifications: this is the job of the authorised technician.
No tax burden
Capturing the code does not change how the sale is treated for tax purposes.
06 · The risks
What you risk
The penalty system is detailed and distinguishes between substantive omissions and formal irregularities.
- Failing to record or transmit is penalised in proportion to the undocumented amount.
- Failing to hand over the documento commerciale carries a penalty of its own.
- Late transmission, where the sale was still recorded, is treated more leniently.
- Repeated violations can lead to the suspension of the licence or of the business.
- Failing to update the till or to have its periodic inspection carried out is penalised separately.
- Ravvedimento operoso (voluntary correction) lets you reduce the penalties before any inspection.
Suspension of the business for repeated violations is the heaviest consequence and the one least considered. It does not depend on the amount of tax evaded but on the number of violations found within a given period: it is a measure designed precisely for systematic omissions of small amounts.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
I am on the flat-rate scheme and have a shop. Do I need an electronic till?
Yes. The flat-rate scheme concerns how income is calculated and the exclusion from VAT, not the obligations for certifying daily takings.
Anyone running a retail business must record and transmit their daily takings, with an electronic till or, if sales are very few, with the Revenue Agency's web procedure.
My till has broken down. Can I close for a day?
There is no need, and it would not solve anything. You report the fault through the Revenue Agency's procedure, call the authorised technician, and in the meantime record your sales in an emergency register.
The takings for the period when the till was out of service are then transmitted through the web procedure, within the deadlines provided for. The customer must still be given a receipt.
A customer asks me for an invoice after taking the receipt.
The request must be made at the time of the sale. If it comes later, issuing an invoice means reconciling the sale that has already been certified, excluding it from daily takings so that it is not counted twice.
It can be done, but it needs careful handling, because double counting creates a mismatch between the takings transmitted and the invoices issued, and that mismatch shows up in automated checks.
Is the documento commerciale valid for deducting expenses?
Only if it is issued in the form valid for tax purposes, that is with the customer's codice fiscale entered at the time of the sale.
The ordinary documento commerciale does not allow a deduction. For healthcare expenses, and for deductible expenses in general, the customer must ask for their own codice fiscale to be entered before the sale is closed.
Let's talk
A broken till does not suspend the obligation
You have to record your sales in the emergency register and transmit them within the deadlines. If it happens to you, call us straight away.