PHILADELPHIA -- A Philadelphia City Councilman wants to make receipts for purchases at convenience stores mandatory, according to a CBS report, and he is proposing legislation for just such a requirement.
"Just give them a receipt when you have a purchase," City Councilman Curtis Jones said, claiming frustration that not all convenience stores readily offer receipts.
Some, he alleged, are hoping to keep cash transactions off the records.
Jones said that the benefits of mandatory purchase receipts are twofold: they hinder any alleged tax-dodging efforts by convenience stores that deal mainly in cash, and they make sure customers don't have problems with exchanges.
"It'll document and memorialize the amount of receipts going through some of these small stores. And it will assure consumers of their ability to exchange goods in a reputable way, so it doesn't create conflict," he told the news outlet.
Jones said that mandatory receipts would also hinder minors who are trying to buy tobacco products illegally: "Not allowing minors to purchase things like cigarettes and blunts, because it shows up on a receipt."
When asked if City Council has the power to require receipts at convenience stores, Jones said it does because of the city-specific sales tax. "We can ask for receipts based on the fact that we levy taxes against those receipts," he said.
Jones said the measure could be debated in committee, although no date has been set for that, said the report.
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