Start with your processes.
A table-service restaurant, a counter-service café and a mobile food stall have different processes. The sector alone does not determine a cash-register obligation. Start your preparation by looking at the path from order to receipt.
The current cash-register rules apply independently of the proposed law. The Cash-register obligation from 2028 is treated as a government draft at our current editorial reference date. Your sector selection alone does not establish an obligation or an exemption.
Four situations you may recognise.
Café with a manual cash box
You sell coffee and cake, accept cash and do not currently use an electronic register.
Your next step: Discuss your existing records with your tax adviser. Gather the relevant annual documents for the draft; do not estimate possible relevance from a typical day's turnover alone.
Restaurant with an electronic register
Your team records orders digitally and takes payment in cash or by card.
Your next step: Check your existing setup first: TSE, receipts, data export and notification. Ask to see how corrections and cancellations remain traceable. The draft does not automatically mean buying new equipment.
Food stall with several sales locations
As well as a permanent location, you operate a food truck or a stall at events.
Your next step: List the systems used and how the sales locations are organised. Ask your tax adviser which business entity and turnover figures would matter in a later assessment.
Café that accepts cards only
You no longer accept cash, but still use an electronic cash-register system.
Your next step: Have the existing cash-register requirements assessed. “Cards only” alone is neither proof of exemption from TSE nor a reliable exemption ground for the proposed law.
Your preparation checklist.
You do not need to make a purchase decision yet. These documents and questions will help when speaking to your provider and tax adviser.
- List all registers and mobile ordering devices, including their locations.
- Walk through a typical order with your team, from entry through a correction to the receipt.
- Document how card payments, cash payments and any delivery platforms enter the records.
- Keep TSE documents, existing register notifications and data exports where they can be found.
- Note down questions about business establishments and relevant annual turnover for your tax adviser.
Two questions for the right people.
For your tax adviser
How are our sales locations and different payment channels classified for tax purposes, and which annual documents would be relevant to the government draft?
For your register provider
Can you show us our system's TSE status, receipt provision, cancellations and a complete data export?
The legal basis behind the assessment.
For existing records, the main starting points are § 146 AO, for electronic cash-register systems within the scope of the rules § 146a AO and § 1 KassenSichV are the starting points. The precise scope must match the system being used.
For the proposed law, we link to the official BMF legislative procedure page. The examples on this page do not create special exemptions for these sectors.
A register that suits your service.
If you would like to organise table service, counter sales and payments better, talk to moaby about your processes and existing equipment.
Talk to moabyThis page covers selected cash-register topics. It does not replace individual legal or tax advice. View sources and the editorial reference date.