Quebec tackles restaurant tax evasion

The Quebec government is cracking down on tax evasion in the restaurant business.

The province's revenue minister has introduced standardized cash registers that must be installed in every restaurant by September 2011.

Fifty restaurants are now testing the electronic devices.

It will cost $32 million to install the machines in the province's 18,000 restaurants, Revenue Minister Robert Dutil said Thursday.

But he said it will save the tax system plenty in the long run — $300 million in tax revenue every year that he says goes undeclared in the restaurant business.

Restaurants are one of four sectors the provincial government has identified as problem areas for tax evasion.