Notice more and more restaurants taking cash only

[oli]

It won't fly charging $10 for a burger and fries if you include cc charges. The cut off for a burger and fries is around $8.50-9.00 Max. Thats what shorties and red bar charges. I agree with the other posters and think much of the cash is about not paying taxes and that irks me.

Assuming,assuming......

 

[jodiFL]

I think it definitely has to do with the tax man and it is one of my pet peeves. I usually steer clear of establishments not accepting credit cards. I see it as a "cost of doing business" and a convenience for customers. Whether it is perceived or not, I still feel the tax man is being shorted and I don't like it.

I personally wouldnt like the fact that a CC company would have 24/7 access to my bank account to remove my money at will, whenever they felt like it in order to satisfy their customer (CCholder). Convenience or not.. that isnt acceptable to me and obviously isnt acceptable to more and more business owners.

 

[NotDeadYet]

Having a cash only policy does not necessarily mean the tax man is being cheated. A restaurant that takes cc's is still going to have cash customers, and those are the tabs that will be skimmed off the top. I have had this happen to me numerous times, always at restaurants that do take cc's. If you pay attention you will notice that what typically happens is you hand your bill and your cash to a cashier who figures the sales tax using a pocket calculator, takes your money, opens the drawer without ringing up anything and gives you your change.
If you use a cc your tab won't be skimmed, but it does run up the cost of business for everyone, honest and dishonest alike.
SJ, I think it is less these days that people cannot afford to pay cash, but rather that they don't want to take a bunch of cash on vacation with them. By the way, whatever happened to traveler's checks? Out with the horse and buggy?

 

[jodiFL]

I personally wouldnt like the fact that a CC company would have 24/7 access to my bank account to remove my money at will, whenever they felt like it in order to satisfy their customer (CCholder). Convenience or not.. that isnt acceptable to me and obviously isnt acceptable to more and more business owners.

EDIT.... also, the businesses being talked about here all have restaurant POS systems that track EVERYTHING from the taxes to the amount of mayonnaise used everyday. Cant hide from the tax man very well with an electronic paper trail that is a mile long. As a server, I can tell you that those systems track every transaction and my report at the end of the night is a minimum of 18 inches long.

 

[phillycheese]

Gas stations had this problem over the past few years when gas prices were getting higher. The gas station only profits a few cents per gallon of gas that is sold (no matter what gas prices are). If the gas station has to pay 3% of credit card fees of say $50 (15 gal) tank of gas that is filled by a random person, then he pays $1.50 to the credit card company. If the gas station only makes 10 cents per gallon of gas sold (and that's being generous), then all of the profit the gas station made is being paid to the credit card company. That's why many gas stations went to cash only. The choice of using a credit card or debit card due to its convenience, costs us (and the business owners) more than we realize.

 

[Carol G]

I naively assumed if I was using the "debit" option, then the money was being removed directly from my account, like an electronic check, with no CC fees. I'm one of those people who rarely has cash on hand, and frequently use my debit card. No more - cash or check only at local businesses from now on for me...

I don't buy the BS about tax scams; like Jodi says, all of the restaurants I go to use an itemized POS system, and give me a register receipt, no matter how I pay. If they don't, request one. I don't believe they are fudging the receipts to scam the IRS; that is more fear-based conjecture to justify a bad business practice. We've all been lulled by the empty promise of credit for too long - it is an evil system. My daddy was right all along - if you can't pay for it with cash, right now, today, don't buy it, you can't afford it.

 

[NotDeadYet]

I don't buy the BS about tax scams; like Jodi says, all of the restaurants I go to use an itemized POS system,

I'm not talking about restaurants with the POS systems. There are still quite a few places that use the old-fashioned cash register and book of checks that the server uses to write down your order and that you then use to pay on your way out. Not so many of these on 30A though, but they do still exist elsewhere in SoWal.

 

[SHELLY]

I for one have been using my CC for every purchase that I can to rack up cash rewards (and paying off the balance in full each month of course)--and the paying of said rewards are probably what is being passed along to the retailers in the form of higher fees. I also like to use my CC to track my spending and for consumer protection from shifty retailers.

The CC companies are providing a service to the retailers for this fee--more customer traffic; less chance of bounced checks; not having to keep lots of cash on hand; reports that help in accounting purposes for sales and taxes.

I, personally, don't like carrying a bunch of cash around--usually no more than $100...ditto carrying my checkbook (ugh!). I'll pay with cash for purchases that are only a few bucks (say, under $10); but unless a place that requires payment in cash provides a truly one-of-a-kind product or service, I'll usually pass them up for a business that accepts my credit card.

And if I'm in line to pay, and I see the retailer doing the "figuring out tax on a calculator, and ringing up 00 on the register trick," I'll pull out my CC, even if it is only for a stick of gum--and make a point to report them to the IRS.

As the Great Recession deepens, and more credit cards get downgraded or yanked, there's a possibility that many will have to revert to the "all cash" system of purchasing goods--but it pretty much stands to reason that these people will not be among the majority of folks who will be patronizing businesses that sell $20 entrees, $4 cupcakes or $15 plum-blossom-scented candles.

.

 

[Andy A]

I for one have been using my CC for every purchase that I can to rack up cash rewards (and paying off the balance in full each month of course)--and the paying of said rewards are probably what is being passed along to the retailers in the form of higher fees. I also like to use my CC to track my spending and for consumer protection from shifty retailers.

The CC companies are providing a service to the retailers for this fee--more customer traffic; less chance of bounced checks; not having to keep lots of cash on hand; reports that help in accounting purposes for sales and taxes.

I, personally, don't like carrying a bunch of cash around--usually no more than $100...ditto carrying my checkbook (ugh!). I'll pay with cash for purchases that are only a few bucks (say, under $10); but unless a place that requires payment in cash provides a truly one-of-a-kind product or service, I'll usually pass them up for a business that accepts my credit card.

And if I'm in line to pay, and I see the retailer doing the "figuring out tax on a calculator, and ringing up 00 on the register trick," I'll pull out my CC, even if it is only for a stick of gum--and make a point to report them to the IRS.

As the Great Recession deepens, and more credit cards get downgraded or yanked, there's a possibility that many will have to revert to the "all cash" system of purchasing goods--but it pretty much stands to reason that these people will not be among the majority of folks who will be patronizing businesses that sell $20 entrees, $4 cupcakes or $15 plum-blossom-scented candles.

.

Ditto to everything you had to say. I try to do exactly the same.

 

[jodiFL]

My daddy was right all along - if you can't pay for it with cash, right now, today, don't buy it, you can't afford it.

Amazing how your parents get smarter as you get older isnt it?? LOL