The announcement of the official launch of the new system aimed at curtailing the shadow economy was made by Finance Ministry State Secretary Mateja Vraničar after today's cabinet session.

It comes as the government confirmed the wording of a bill regulating the new system of verifying receipts.

The 2 January 2016 implementation date is in line with the original plans, although government officials had in recent weeks indicated it could be brought forward to October of this year.

Under the bill, there will be no exemptions to using the new system for businesses accepting cash, which will have to upgrade their receipt systems and have an active internet connection.

The online system will see all receipts automatically sent to the Financial Administration (FURS) for verification prior to them being printed by businesses.

Vraničar said this was not the same as having tax-certified cash registers, meaning that the adjustments for business will be smaller.

The government hopes the new system will raise anywhere between EUR 50m and EUR 100m in revenue lost to those businesses which have avoided issuing receipts or have subsequently deleted them from their books.

Setting up the system will cost FURS around EUR 2m, said Vraničar.

A two-year transition period will be in place for businesses, which will be able to operate with special carbon copy receipts that will then have to be verified with the revenue service within ten days.

This is to allow companies with large numbers of mobile units, which are often no equipped with digital cash registers, to adjust gradually. One such example is the national postal operator, Pošta Slovenije.

The bill also allows for an exception to verifying receipts when the internet connection at a business is down. In this case, the business can issue a carbon copy receipt that must be verified with FURS within two days.

To allow businesses to test the new equipment and get used to the new system, the verification servers will be put online already on 1 December.

Vraničar said that in addition to bringing in extra revenue from value added tax, authorities also expect the system to help curb undeclared work, since all operators of cash registers will need to be registered with FURS.

Moreover, FURS expects that improved oversight of issuance of receipts will free up tax inspectors for other tasks.

The government estimates that businesses will have no more than EUR 300 in costs per cash register, rejecting complaints by small business that the introduction of the system represents a major burden.

The Chamber of Trade Crafts and Small Business (OZS) today reiterated its opposition to the new system, saying that costs per cash register will stand between EUR 1,500 and EUR 1,800.