Cash register receipt in a foreign language: is it possible?
Do business entities have the right to program cash registers/PTRs and issue fiscal cash receipts in a foreign language or in a language of national minorities?
In accordance with Article 10 of the Constitution of Ukraine No. 254к/96-ВР dated June 28, 1996, the state language in Ukraine is Ukrainian.
The use of languages in Ukraine is guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine and determined by law.
The functioning and use of the Ukrainian language as the state language in the spheres of public life is regulated by the Law of Ukraine No. 2704-VIII "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language" dated April 25, 2019, as amended (hereinafter - Law No. 2704) throughout Ukraine.
The preamble to Law No. 2704 states that, pursuant to the Decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine No. 10-rp/99 dated December 14, 1999, Ukrainian as the state language is a mandatory means of communication throughout Ukraine in the exercise of powers by state authorities and local self-government bodies (language of acts, work, office work, documentation, etc.), as well as in other public spheres of public life as determined by law.
According to Article 1 of Law No. 2704, the only state (official) language in Ukraine is Ukrainian.
The language of customer service in Ukraine is the state language (part one of Article 30 of Law No. 2704).
Enterprises, institutions and organizations of all forms of ownership, individual entrepreneurs, and other business entities that provide services to consumers (except as provided for in part three of Article 30 of Law No. 2704) shall provide services and information about goods (services), including through online stores and online catalogs, in the state language. Information in the state language may be duplicated in other languages (part two of Article 30 of Law No. 2704).
Pursuant to part three of Article 30 of Law No. 2704, at the request of the client, personalized services may also be provided in another language acceptable to the parties.
In view of the above, business entities are obliged to program the payment transaction recorder (hereinafter referred to as the "PTR"/software PTR) and issue a fiscal receipt to the consumer in Ukrainian.
At the same time, when programming the mandatory details of the fiscal receipt in the RTR/PTR, a foreign language may be used along with the Ukrainian language, the text of which will duplicate the information specified in Ukrainian.
All settlement, primary, accounting and record keeping documents must be drawn up in the state language, and it is not prohibited to include additional information in them, including duplication of information specified in such documents in a foreign language.
The absence of mandatory details in the state language will result in a violation of the requirements of Ukrainian legislation.