Module 17 — Receipt Transparency / Citizen Auditor
1. Purpose
Every non-compliant receipt is priced with a statutory $500 administrative fine per occurrence — not an accrual-test; there is no minimum loss threshold before a whistleblower reward can attach. Enforcement pairs four-bucket mandatory itemization with QR cryptographic lineage so taxpayers can see the same tax story the state sees.
2. Competitive fairness (zero-threshold)
Inclusive pricing (one sticker price hiding itemized sales/use tax) is barred as a matter of fair competition: vendors who lie by omission undercut vendors who disclose lawful tax lines. The citizen-auditor bounty removes the economic shield for non-itemized rolls.
3. Legal requirement for itemization — four buckets
Legally required separate visible lines at point of sale:
- Food tax — taxable grocery and prepared-food streams.
- Beverage tax — non-alcoholic beverage lines (soda, coffee tiers, water classifications as applicable).
- Alcohol tax — beer / wine / spirits lines shown apart from subtotal.
- Fee tax (surcharges) — bag, delivery, platform, convenience, service, GF surcharges, and credit card surcharges — each enumerated as its own named tax-bearing line, not buried in “total.”
Statutory anchors for Bucket 4
- ORC 5739.01 (“Price” definition) — determines which surcharge amounts are included in the taxable sales price and therefore subject to Ohio sales/use tax.
- ORC 5739.02 — state imposition of the sales tax; establishes the 5.75% state rate.
- ORC 5739.021 — county and transit authority additional levy authority; the source of local overlays (e.g., a county adding up to 1.5%, producing a combined rate such as 7.25%).
4. The $500 whistleblower bounty (50/50 split)
$500 per deficient receipt (per occurrence):
- $250 to the reporting customer / whistleblower (50%);
- $250 to the State (50%).
Canonical numbers: state_wide_metrics.bounty_details in tax_rules.json.
5. Logged vs. remitted (real-time QR)
- Logged (real-time) — The QR confirms the taxable event is recorded with the state-administered logging authority at transaction time — the public “receipt of record” for audits and whistleblower claims.
- Remitted later — Actual treasury remittance of tax collected still follows the standard vendor deposit schedule (e.g. periodic 23rd-of-the-month filing rhythm for qualifying filers — exact dates per Ohio Department of Taxation calendars). Logging is not the same moment as cash hitting the treasury.
The design answers the myth that “posting to a phone” must mean “paid to Columbus today.”