"If you get one, the business has record of it. IMO they won't care if you got one, just that the business issued one. That's what makes sense from a compliance standpoint."
Now that does make me wonder. The law says the business has to issue me a receipt. Why should the government care if a receipt was issued? The business needs to keep a record of the sale, but how does giving me a receipt further that requirement?
See #279.
Good question. As I said previously, I believe it is to inhibit retailers from defrauding the feds. If the retailer prints a receipt, he is likely to submit those same records (or use them as documentation) to support his claim of total sales revenue. That is not to say it couldn't be fake, just that it is less likely. Every system will have cheaters. JMHO