A Message to our Readers spending their summer vacations in Greece: PLEASE ALWAYS ASK FOR A SALES RECEIPT AFTER EVERY TRANSACTION!

From The New Yorker

Dear friends,

We hope you enjoy your time in Greece. We really appreciate your decision to spend your vacations and money in our beautiful country, especially because your support at this time is more than welcome.

However, if you really want to support the Greek economy and the Greek people you should always ask for a sales receipt after any transaction. When you rent a room, enjoy Greek food in a tavern, have a cocktail at a bar, ride a taxi or buy gifts from a souvenir shop, do not forget to ask for a sales receipt. Even if you buy a small bottle of water, a diet Coke or a newspaper ask for a sales receipt (Απόδειξη / Apodeixi in Greek).

If the store owner refuses to give you a receipt, if he/she offers instead a lame excuse for “not being able to give you a receipt at this time” and especially if he/she asks you to “pay more” if you need a receipt, you should immediately contact a police officer and report exactly what happened.

You will notice that many store owners and entrepreneurs in Greece are more than happy to give you a sales receipt – they do this automatically after the transaction – you don’t even have to ask. These people are not fools. They are responsible Greek citizens.

On the other hand you should help us punish and marginalize the shameless tax evaders. Their selfish opportunistic behavior is one of the causes of Greece’s ordeal. Do not let them get away by stealing taxes from the Greek people but also from you. Their behavior is criminal but also antisocial and they should be punished for that.

This is an initiative by the contributors of GreekCrisis.net aimed at the readers of this blog. We will greatly appreciate it if you could share this text in any way you can (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

We understand that we are at the end of this summer. However, your help will be instrumental every time you visit Greece. Please help us restore fairness and the Rule of Law in the Greek marketplace.

We wish you a great rest of the summer!

Aristides Hatzis & Yulie Foka-Kavalieraki