Tax-evading restos fry

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by GEORGE MADDUX

The dial on the egg timer is nearing the upwards position for restaurants with electronic cash registers rigged to trick the taxman. Prior to June, Quebec's antiquated laws made it hard for the government to corral users of the infamous "zapper" software invented in 1994 by local geek Stéphane Mercier. Although the gizmo cost the provincial coffers an estimated $300 to $500 annually, according to Revenue Quebec spokesperson Céline Giguère, owners of cash registers equipped with the device that automatically erases up to 30 per cent of a store's earnings could simply claim ignorance.

But now, thanks to Law 121, by mid-December any enterprise using a cash register loaded with the tax-evading software will be assumed to be using it and will suffer the wrath of stiff fines.

"With what's happened over the last year we imagine there's been an effect. The perquisitions that took place certainly made people think twice," says Giguère, referring to a negotiated settlement with the Nickels and Baton Rouge restaurant chains that saw the cheating duo pay $2.3-million in damages to the Revenue Ministry.

Meanwhile, Mercier, the inventor of the zapper software, claims he has since gone legit and was recently cleared of fraud charges after he doled out $3,000 to charity.

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