UPDATE (August 4, 2020): By the end of July 2020, other German states had followed suit and also granted an extension of the non-objection period until March 31, 2021, the only exception being Bremen.

On July 10, 2020, four finance ministers decided to give businesses with electronic cash registers a helping hand. While the deadline for implementing the KassenSichV expires on September 30 in all other German states, retailers and restaurants in Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria now have more time to upgrade their cash registers.

No amount of pleading and urging by affected industry associations has helped so far - German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) has remained firm when it comes to extending the non-objection period for implementing the Cash Protection Ordinance went.

Although it is highly unusual in terms of fiscal policy, the above-mentioned federal states are going their own way with regard to the practical implementation of the extended tax laws and technical guidelines. The new deadline is therefore March 31, 2021.

Economic aid in times of crisis

For this NRW Finance Minister Lutz Lienenkämper (CDU): "In these months of the Corona pandemic, we are doing everything we can to help our economy through this time," says Minister Lienenkämper, "my colleagues and I agree: bureaucratic hurdles from Scholz would be absolutely counterproductive at the moment." Similar comments were made by Hesse's Minister of Finance Michael Boddenberg (CDU): ""Hesse is a pioneer in the fight against tax crime. That's why the crackdown on cheating cash registers remains important. In times of partly existential burdens due to the Corona crisis, however, we must grant entrepreneurs a longer transition period."

However, in order to benefit from the extension of the deadline, the companies concerned must comply with conditions:

1. the required number of TSEs must be demonstrably ordered or commissioned from a cash register dealer or other service provider by September 30, 2020, or
2. The installation of a cloud-based TSE must be planned (e.g., in the case of a central cash register in companies with a large number of branches), but is demonstrably not yet available

The ministries of finance are doing away with bureaucratic red tape in the process: retailers and catering businesses do not have to submit a separate application to the relevant tax offices. For further reading, please refer to the Hessian state decree dated July 10, 2020 here.

What the postponement means for our customers

We have already been able to bring our SAP customers onto the audit-proof side with our SAP AddOn Receipt4S®. Among others, tegut..., Porta Möbel and Ernstings Family already benefit from our central entry point for legally compliant management, auditing and archiving of all relevant POS data.

You can find more information about our solution at www.receipt4s.de. In addition, we cordially invite retailers to participate in our free webinar:

KassenSichV 2020: Webinar with cash management expert Andrea Köchling