Lucrezia Ciotti In an era where digital payments are increasingly widespread and preferred, a proposal arrives that could revolutionize the daily shopping experience. Brothers of Italy he put forward the idea of eliminating the obligation to release the receipts paper for all transactions made by credit or debit card. But what are the implications of this proposal and how could it change the relationship between consumers, merchants and the tax authorities?
Goodbye receipts for those who pay by card or debit card?
has presented a proposal to eliminate the obligation for merchants to print paper receipts when the customer makes electronic payments, such as with debit or credit cards. The measure, included in a resolution that today will be examined by the Finance Committee of the Chamber, provides that the receipt remains mandatory only for those who pay in cash or upon explicit request by the consumer.
Among the reasons behind the proposal is the fact that, thanks to the automatic transmission of data on daily transactions to the Revenue Agency, the receipt has lost its primary function and it's become, in most cases, a simple business document. Furthermore, it is emphasized thatenvironmental impact linked to the use of thermal paper, which is not easily recyclable due to the chemical additives it contains.
The deputy Saverio Congedo, first signatory of the text, recalls that the electronic transmission of the fees made the issuance of paper receipts for digital payments superfluous, thus making their issuance by retailers obsolete. The 2016 reform, despite having introduced electronic payments, still maintained the obligation to print a receipt for each transaction.
The text cites countries such as France and the United States, where paper receipts are already optional and replaced by electronic versions. From 1 January 2026, thanks to the budget law, the Meloni government will introduce the obligation to connect the POS to the telematic register to automatically transmit electronic payments to the Revenue Agency.
Goodbye receipts for those who pay by card or debit card: the proposal of Fratelli d'Italia
The resolution, which does not constitute a proposed law, if approved would represent a simple request non-binding proposal addressed to the government to intervene on this issue. However, since it is presented by the majority party, it is likely to be taken seriously into consideration.
The goal would be to ensure that, starting next year, the paper receipt will remain mandatory only for cash payments, while alternative solutions are adopted for other payment methods. Among these could be, for example, the display of a confirmation on the display of the telematic recorder or the use of digital tools that guarantee the customer the correct registration of the transaction. The printing of the paper receipt would be reserved exclusively for those who request it.
Furthermore, from 2027 it should be possible to make It is mandatory to equip all traders with systems capable of both storing and transmitting data to the tax authorities, or to issue a sort of 'electronic receipt', with the aim of progressively reducing the use of the paper version.