Under existing law, it is not specifically illegal to possess or use an automated sales suppression device or phantom-ware, which are devices used to delete records of sales transactions from cash register records, so that sales taxes are under-reported to the state, county, and municipal tax collecting authorities.
This bill would make the possession or use of an automated sales suppression device, or phantom-ware a felony, punished by a fine of not more than $100,000, or $500,000 in the case of a corporation, or imprisonment for not more than three years, or both, and the person would be liable for all lost revenue.
Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds from becoming effective with regard to local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote unless: it comes within one of a number of specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for the purpose.
The purpose or effect of this bill would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of the amendment. However, the bill does not require approval of a local governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to become effective because it comes within one of the specified exceptions contained in the amendment.
Source: Alabama Legislature