Pistolpete2

What are we to make of the fact that certain fairly popular restaurants in the Tavira area are not routinely providing a proper VAT invoice as a bill? I understand that the threshold for VAT registration is low.

Red Eric

I think that's where we customers come in if it bothers us, isn't it? By asking for a receipt with NIF, we oblige the establishment to produce a proper invoice which gets registered with Finanças.

ouriquejan

Don't worry about it - our best one was having the bill written on the paper cloth on the table.

Pistolpete2

I suppose it bothers me from the competitive stand-point. I'm not trying to be a legal eagle. If a restaurant isn't IN FACT charging VAT it puts a whole new perspective on its pricing levels in the market and therefore value.

To kind of make a point - look at the competitive advantage France has with a low VAT level on the food element of restaurant pricing so it can help to bang out formules du midi prix nets (constructs) that can often make a serious three-course meal look pretty cheap beside a Portuguese meal constructed as it typically is from a la carte items on the menu, BEFORE BEER or WINE of course.

It doesn't HAVE to be an issue. If I lived in Tavira, I would probably spend much of my time eating the prata da dia choices at Casa Simao - when they are open. I haven't been to Xico's yet.

Pistolpete2

Pretty similar then - no items, just numbers.

It does occur to me that (even) in the UK, restaurateurs somehow break out their overall enterprises into sub-sections such as restaurant, catering, private dining and even arts (on the walls) to get below the VAT threshold but as I said, the threshold looks low here. Must be a bit like limbo-dancing.