non vat receipts from petrol stations - why

happyc84

Been buying fuel for many years, and still get the odd retailer, who when you pay they give you a card receipt, and then you have to ask for a VAT receipt for those who need them.

My question - Why don't they just give you the VAT receipt at the beginning.

Are they saving money on the paper?

bod1467

happyc84 wrote: »

Are they saving money on the paper?

Yes. Unless I'm needing a VAT receipt for expenses purposes then I'm not bothered about one, just the card receipt.

phill99

Because most people don't require a VAT receipt. However many petrol stations (eg Morrison's) give you a combined VAT receipt and card receipt. Tesco / Sainsburys give them both automatically.

bigjl

happyc84 wrote: »

Been buying fuel for many years, and still get the odd retailer, who when you pay they give you a card receipt, and then you have to ask for a VAT receipt for those who need them.

My question - Why don't they just give you the VAT receipt at the beginning.

Are they saving money on the paper?

Shell stations give you one receipt which is a Vat Receipt and a card receipt.

Nodding_Donkey

I'd guess that for most people one receipt is enough and if there card reader is the type that prints it's own receipt that will suffice.

LandyAndy

happyc84 wrote: »

Been buying fuel for many years, and still get the odd retailer, who when you pay they give you a card receipt, and then you have to ask for a VAT receipt for those who need them.

My question - Why don't they just give you the VAT receipt at the beginning.

Are they saving money on the paper?

I agree that they should just include a VAT breakdown on the same receipt. It's only one line.


As for saving paper, some receipts are 8 or 10 inches long. Why? Surely everything could be fitted into a couple of inches of paper?

Joe_Horner

LandyAndy wrote: »

I agree that they should just include a VAT breakdown on the same receipt. It's only one line.


As for saving paper, some receipts are 8 or 10 inches long. Why? Surely everything could be fitted into a couple of inches of paper?

One problem with that is that an awful lot of petrol stations use pumps systems that were installed long before chip & pin, so the card and pump machines don't talk to each other.

Agreed about the size of some receipts, but not issuing the two every time does save paper, and littering as a lot of people drop the VAT one, and helps keep most of their other customer's cars tidier.

Never found it hard to say "can I have a receipt please" as I hand over payment, so this problem's a bit of a non-problem for me to be honest!

bob_a_builder

Never found it hard to say "can I have a receipt please" as I hand over payment, so this problem's a bit of a non-problem for me to be honest!

That request might well get you a not VAT receipt, so still have to check

They would save a lot more paper, by adding the the one line of VAT info reqd to the standard print out - then one receipt will satisfy all requests - easier for everyone all round

Strider590

In my experience they look at your car + how much you've spent and then try to determine if you need a VAT receipt.

They never ask when I put £20 in the kitcar, but they always ask when I put £70 in the Vectra.

Generally speaking, if your car is business related, you'd fill the tank. If it's not, then people these days tend to put in just a few £ worth.
So if you go and put £3 of fuel in, they'll assume you don't need a VAT receipt.

colino

It's a good question OP, with decent systems and a well designed presentation, it would make sense to have a standard format, as the supermarkets have been breaking down the VATable items on your shopping for years and would save on wasted paper. Those really wanting to hug a tree needn't take a printed receipt at all. It's not like the good old days when you filled the company car, got some oil for your lawnmower, four mars bars and a bottle of Irn Bru (other gut rot is available) and it was given as a single, all inclusive receipt.

Joe_Horner

bob_a_builder wrote: »

That request might well get you a not VAT receipt, so still have to check

They would save a lot more paper, by adding the the one line of VAT info reqd to the standard print out - then one receipt will satisfy all requests - easier for everyone all round

It might, but I've not seen a petrol station for years that doesn't include VAT details on their pump's printer.

But putting that one line onto a card receipt could mean a completely new card processing system, which is hardly "easier" for them! Lots of petrol stations (certainly round here) still have a till / pump system and then a separate card terminal, and most of those separate terminals don't have a facility to add things like VAT numbers.

Upgrading to a full integrated EPOS system is expensive and hardly justifiable by the small proportion of the small number of people who need VAT receipts who feel unable to ask for one.

Personally, I'd rather spend my daily worry allowance on local homelessness, or world hunger, than on the need to ask for a receipt to claim back :beer: