Customs and Exclse Tax (F1sca1 Devices) Regulations. 1997

LN. 86 of 1997

CUSTOMS AND EXCISE TAX ACT, 1997

(ACT NO. XII OF 1997)

Customs and Exclse Tax (F1sca1 Devices) Regulations. 1997

IN exercise of the powers conferred by subsection (2) of section

39 and section 75 oflhe Customs and Excise Tax Act, 1997 , hereinafter

in these regulations referred to as "the Act", the Min ister of Finance

and Commen;c has made the following regulations:-

I. (I) Thesereguialions may becited as the Customs and Excise

Tax (Fiscal Devices) Regulat ions, 1997.

These regulations shall come into force on the 1st July.

(2)

1997.

(1) Dawn ir-regolamentijistghujissejhu ir-Rcgoiamcnli la' litOlo 0 bid.

1-1997 dwar I-Au dwar it-Taxx8 tad-Dwana u tas-Sisa (Mekkanizrni ~-

Fiskali).

(2)

Dawn ir-regolamenti ghandhorn jibdew isehhu fl - I ta'

Lulju, 1997.

( I)

In these re gulations. unless the context otherwise

rc:quirc:s:-

"auth orised person" shall have th e meaning assigned 10 it in

parugl'llph (2) of regu lation 4 of these regulations;

"fiscal devices" includes fiscal cash registers, fiscal printers

:u1d any other unit which contains.lil fiscal memory

"owners of fi scal devices" incl ud es retail outle ts .

establishments purveying food and street hawkers.

(2) Other words and expressions used in these regulations shall

have the meaning assigned to them in the Act.

(1) All owners offi sclIJ devices shall use a fiscal device for

the issue of the receipt required to be provided by subsection (2) of

section 39 of the Act. The fiscal devices must comply with the standard

specifications set out in these regulations and as approved by the

Director.

(2) Any person who acquires a fiscal device must give

ncxiflcation in writing of the acquisition to the Director with in tWO

working days from the acquisi tion thereof giving the following details

(a) the name, business address and Customs and Excise Tax

Registration Number of the transferee;

(b) the name, business addreSS and Customs and Excise Tax

Registration Number of the transferor;

(e) the model and serial numbcrofthe fiscal device and th e

date of acquisition.

(3) The standard specifications for different types of fiscal

devices are as follows

(a) a portable stand-alone cash register that operates lhrough

battery mode with standard electric supply operation as optional;

(b) a fiscal printc:ror non-portabJestand-alone cash register

thai operates through the standard electric mains supply with ballery

operation as optional;

(e) a fiscal printer or cash register (to act as point of sale)

as per subparagraph (b) of thi s paragraph but with th e capability to

communicate in a real-time on-line mode with a central computer

system and interface with the user's applications sofiwarc.

The fiscal device must be able to

(I)

•

-~

(8)

print an itemised receipt (i tems or services sold and their '

respective cost), showing the issuing organisation and the tOlal

value of the sale;

register all day-to-day transactions on a printc:djouma1

(b)

(c)

Store predefined date in an inaccessible and unalterable

memory.

(2) The fi scal device incl uding the una lterable sealed .

memory may only be repaired or modified by authorised persons

approved by the Director.

TheDirector shallissuealogbookforeachfiscaldevicc. FW:.I_

s.

( I)

The authorised person must maintain this logbook with details of any ......... ·

intervention. work or modification carried out to the fiscal devicc. TIle

authorised person is to notify the Director of any missing logbook.

(2)

The authorised person must immediately notify the

Director.

(a)

if a fiscal device has been tampered with;

(b) i f he has been called upon tocarry out any modifications

or changes as II oonsequence of a transfer of ownersh ip or use of

the fiscal device.

(I)

Fiscal cash registers must

(a) have specific function keys thaI provide for a simple

means of ,:,perating the unit;

be robust and designed for heavy duty operation;

(b)

(e)

have an automatic calendar/clock;

be programmable throu gh the keyboard;

(d)

(e)

allow for a programmable header message consisting

of at least business name and address, and Customs and Excise

Tax Regi stration Number;

(f) have a function that will allow the operator to correct

errors with ease without sacrificing the security con trol fealUres.

The unit is \0 allow for the follow ing transactions

(i)

the cancell ation of a specific sale;

the return of goods, thereby giving a refund

(ii)

(iii) the allowance fordisoounts. provided that the total

sum of the transaction is nO( negative. These transactions are

to correspond to the transactions Te(;orded in the journal . 1be

customer is to be provided with a receipt to show the details

of the transaction that was executed, including detai ls of

discounts and refunds;

(g) allow that the iss ue of a receipt and all other operations

connected with II specific transaction be carried ou t at an

instantaneous s peed

(h) have one or two integrated printers to produce a basic

fiscal receipt and journal. The integrated printers are to have a

car ri age width of about twenty-four characters with full

aJphanumeric capability

(i ) (i) mainta in an independent journa l eithe r by

maintaining the journal in temporary memory and printing it

at the end of the trading day ,or printing on a second integrated

printer or by maintaining a printout of all sale transactions on

a second copy of the receipt printer

(ii) allow for the journal roll to contain an identical

printed copy of the receipt given to the customer (except for

the lines devoted to the headings). The un it must prohibit the

entry of a transaction if the receipt printer is disco nnected.

Moreover, the unit must prohibit the entry of a transactio n if

the journal printer is disconnected andlor inoperable. Ullits

may have an additional printer to those described above;

however, any slips issued by the additional printe~ are not

valid as receipts and must clearly indicate th is fact;

(j) have electronic "end of paper" i ndicato~ wi th minimum

paper wastage. The depletion of paper is to prevent the operation

of the cash register.

(k) have a "non-volatile memory" which will contain the

end-of day closure summary of sales information. This "non-

volatile memory" must be able to store at minimum two thousand

end of day entries. The "non-volatile memory" is to be sealed and

installed in an area inside thecash register. where only an authorised

pe~on approved by the Director may have access to it. The "non-

volatile memory" must be protected against the possibility of the

cancellation of the e ntries and their respective calculations. The

"non-volatile memory" must be protected by a thennosetting resin

that will guarantee its inaccessibility and irremoveability by the

user. The "non-volatile memory" may consist of RAM memory

provided it is protected by buffer batteries able to guarantee its _

conservation;

(I) allow the authorised person to replace the "non-volatile

memory" once the memory capacity has been exhausted without

the need for the cash register to be replaced

(III) not !tHaw eAtcrnally eAecuted programmes to

ma nipulate fiscal totals stored within the "non-volatile memory";

(n)

be Year 2000 compliant;

(0) be reliable with abom two thousand five hundred hou~

MTBF (mean time between failure). Once an error is detected the

unit must automatically prohibit furthe r operation. The unit is to

issue a warning error message when the "non-volatile memory"

has about thiny end-of-day closures left as storage capacity. This

warning message is to be printed on theend-of-day closure rece ipt.

When the "non-volatile memory" capacity has been exhausted the

unit is to prohibit any transactions from being entered;

have a feature to enable on ly au thorised persons

( p)

approved by the Director to assign and enter a unit registration

number. This registration number is to be printed on all the reports

and receipts produced by the cash register. The fonnat of the

registration number is the following

(i)

Logo - 2 Alpha Characters (always "OM")

(ii) Model - 2 Alpha Characters (assigned by the

Director)

(iii)

Serial No. - 8 digits (Serial Number of Unit)

The logo is to be printed in a manner which will make it

extremely difficult 10 imitate.

(2) All transactions condUCted by means of a fiscal device

arc to be classirlcd wilhin one oflne following C8legOries and iocrcme m

the respective sales totals automatically

F representing services;

(a)

(b) R representing goods imported and passed directly to

the consumer

(e) E representing locally purchased goods passed directly

\0 the consumer.

(3)

are to be linked to ont ofthe said three categories. namely. F, R. and E.

In addition to the specifications outlined in paragraphs

(4)

( I). (2) and (3) of this regulation the portable cash registers are to have

the following additional fcalUres

(a) they must operate on an alternative power source 10 the

electrici ty mains supply to sustain the operation of the cash register

for the duration of the daily trading hours

(b) they must incorpoTl.lte an inbuill banery recharge unit

which will allow the batteries to be recharged

(c) the keyboard is to have legendable keyeaps. The unit is

to have a journal paper advance and receipt puper advance key.

The keyboard is to have the follow ing additional keys

(i) "Cancel Key" toeaneel data that ~as been entered

but n O( registered in the memory

(ii)

"Refund Key" for the relUrn of commodities

(iii)

"Null Key" which ullows the reversal ofu previouS

entry

(iv) "Percent Increuse" and ·'Decrease Ke ys" for

allowing a discount

(v)

··Discount Key" for entering a discount umount to

a sale

(vi) ''Total Key" 10 allow payment 10 take place and

close off the: transaction; and

(v ii ) "Sub-Total Ke y" to e nable the prevaili ng

transaction total to be displayed and printed.

(5) In addition 10 the specifications outlined in paragraphs

(I), (2) and (3) o f this regulation the non -portable fiscal cash registers

are to ha ve the following additional features

(a) they must operate wit h line voltage two hundred and

forty volts (plus 10% or minus 10%);

(b) they must have a dual visual display screen which will

enable both the customer and the seller to view (s imu ltaneously)

what is being input in the cash register;

(c) they must allow for th e internal slOrage of a list of

products wi th their respective descri ption and prices. This list is

to be accessed by en tering a nu meri c code either manually or

through a Bar Code Reader;

(d) they must allow transactions to be allocated to different

departments. The capaci ty of the unit must cater for business

sectors with B different nu mber of departments. Each department

key is to ha ve the facility to be programmed with a description, a

uni t price, and the maximum amount;

(e) they must allow change calc ulation (pri nted o r

di splayed);

(I) they must have a cash drawer which will be operated

au tomatica.lly wben a transaction is entered . The unit is to keep an

updated cash-in-drawer position;

(g) they must have the facili ty to prod uce fiscal receipts

and optional management reports;

(h) they must have an automatic self-test procedure that will

include self-diagnostic functions;

(i) the keyboard is to have legendable keycllps. The unit is

to have a "J ournal Pape r Advance Key", "Recei pt Paper Advance

Key" ,and is to have the following additional keys

(i) '"Cancel Key" to cancel data that has been entered

but not registered in the memory;

(ii)

"Refund Key" for the return of commodities;

(iii)

"Null Key" which allows the revcl'AAl of a previous

entry;

(IV) "Price Look-Up" (PLU) Code Keys to enable the

retrieval of the unit !Jrice and description internally

(v) "Percent Increase" and "Decrease Keys" for

allowing a diSC(lunt;

(vi)

"Specific Key" which will enable credit sales to

take place

(vii)

" Discount Key" for e ntering a discount amount

to a sale;

(viii) "Total Key" to allow payment to take place and

close otT the transaction including issue of the receipt and

journal print;

(ix)

"Su b-Total Key to enable: the prevailing

transaction total to be displayed and printed

U) must have battery protect operation to ensure that all

transactions are processed in full even if there is a power failure

during the processing of a specific transaction . The baltery protect

feature is to protecllhe time, date, and other daily totals and the

"non-volatile memory" even when the cash register is switched

off.

(6) In addition to the specifications outlined in paragraphs

( I), (2),(3) and (4) of this regulation a point of sale cash syste m requiring

real-time on-line computer communications are to have the following

funher additional features

(a) it must allow for the internal storage of a listofproduclS

with their respective description and prices. This list is to be

accessed by entering a numeric code either manually through the

"Price Look-Up (PLU) Code Key" or through a Bar Code Reader.

The cash register must have the option to cater for different ranges

of capacity for individual products in ternally . A cash register that

canl!(){ caterforootlets having a large variety of individual products

internally must allow users to directly access a central computer

system through the cash register, When using this method the

limitation of the number of products must be determined by the

capacity of the central computer ratherthan the cash register itself;

(b) must have II s tandllrd communiclltions hardware

facility incl uding the computer software drivers 10 enable it to

interf&ee with a host compu ter.

Provided that where a point of sale cash system does nOl have

the "non-volatile Memory" facil ity, the Director may be satisfied

that the security control features incorporated in the said system

provide an adequate security rating.

Computer linked fiscal memory systems

(7)

(a)

may be operated through the computer keyboard;

(b) must have a customer display unit , with the operator

having a separate video display unit or numeric display attached

to the point of sale or computer system;

(c) must have a procedure to store data being transferred

from the computer to the fiscal memory, and 10 print the receipts

or tax invoices;

the receipt or tax in voice must contain the

(i)

infonnation as requested in subparagraph (p) of paragraph

( I) of this regulation, and must be issued from the fiscal

memory. and not transmitted from the computer system. The

infonnation is to include

(aa) logotype as specified by the Director and as

reproduced in paragraph (9) of th is regu lation;

(bb)

fiscal system model and seri al number;

(cc)

Customs and Excise Tax Registration

Number;

(dd)

name and address of business issuing receipt;

(ee) date and time of receipt issuance

cumulative receipt number;

(rt)

(gg)

tOlal sales value;

(ii) the fiscal system must print the logotype through

a computer command when a·valid fiscal receipt is issued;

(iii) The fiscal system must check the infonnation

coming from the computer and being stored in the fiscal

memory iscorrect by ensuring that no transaction sale amount

is a negative: value;

(iv) When the s pecifie d validations have been

perfonned and are found to be correct, a Single computer

command will prinllhe logotype together with the following

informalion

(aa)

dale and time of receipt issuance;

(bb)

cumulative receipt number,

(ee)

model and seri al number.

(d) musl at minimum acce pt the following computer

commands

to print receipts and tax invoices, and store the total.

(i)

sales value and the values held in categories F. R . and E in

the fiscal memory with a si ngle command;

10 print a ll the reports as indi cated in the

( ii)

specifications with simple computer commands from th e

operating system without havi ng to use any speci fic software;

(e) must. in addi tion to the data stom! in the fiscal memof)'.

log the number of initialiu,tions of the fiscal memory;

must not allow the dme to be changed to the past;

(f)

must allow theend-of-day procedure to be au tomatically

(g)

executed the next time the fi scal system is 5witched-on . if the end-

o f -day procedure is not executed before switching-off the fiscal

device;

(h) must only receiv e commands and data from one

com puter or point of sale system . Several fi scal memory systems

may s hare the data on one computer;

(i ) must be selfrontained and must be presented for approval

together with the following, as a fully funct ional system;

(i) any point of sale orcompuler system which is able

to ron the software in (iii) below;

(ii) a cash drawer and printer connected to the fiscal

memory system;

(iii) the system must be re-submitted for approval if

the application software is modified. A declaration must be

presented specifying the date and time when th e program was

compiled, and the size or the program modu le tha t is

responsible for issuing the fiscal m:eipt and tax invoice.

(8) The fiscal devices will have the requirement to store

various data and iss ue fiscal receipts and optional non fiscal reports.

The following are the features required for this purpose

(a)

totalling functions

(i)

cumulative numberoffisca1 receiptS issued during

a day;

(i i) cumu lati ve number of the end-of·day closure

reports issued;

(iii)

the total sales value for a day;

(iv) daily sales totals for each category, namely F, R,

and E;

(b) In formation recorded on and accessed from "Non

Volatile Memory"

(i)

logotype as specified by the Director and as

~produced in panlgraph (9) of this regu lation;

(ii)

fiscal devi ce model and serial number,

(iii)

(aa)

da ily total sales value for a day

(bb) dai ly sales totals for each category, namely

F, R.andE

(iv) cumulative number of the end-of-day closure

reports issued;

the "Non Volatile Memory" is to be accessed

(v)

throug h a keyboard command, and printed according to

various selection criteria. The selection criteria shall include

(aa) a complete report of the fiscal memory

contain ing details of close of day tOials effected on the

fiscal device, showing the transaction serial numbers,

the date and respective amounts, and the number of

initialisations erfected;

(bb) a report of the entries falling within a range

of selected transaction serial numbers,described in (aa);

(ee) a repon of the entries fall ing within arange

of two selected dates showing the number of end-of_

day closures with the respective 100al figures for the

selected period;

(c) Ihe receipt must include the following information

(i) logotype as specified by th e Director and as

reproduced in panlgraph (9) of this regulation;

model and serial number of the fiscal device;

(ii)

(iii) Customs and Excise Tax Registration number of

the finn issuing receipt;

(iv)

name and address of the business issuing the

receipl

(v)

cumulalive number and date of receipt issuance;

(vi) the individual prices, quantity and description or

the merchandise composing the specific sales operation and

the category, namely, F, R , or E

(vii) the 10lal amount of the sale

(d) the management reports and other printouts which are

nol of a fiscal nature must not print the logotype and art to be

indicated in a clear manner that they are "NON FlSCAL'~

(e) the end-of-dIlY closure report must include a cumulative

serial number (differenl series from progressive number generated

fortbe receipt),date, the tOlal value oflne sales for all transactioru;

(9)

Logotype for fiscal devices

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