Section 62C:35F - Automated sales suppression device or phantom-ware; penalties for selling, purchasing, installing, etc.(a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: "Automated sales suppression device", a software program, carried on a memory stick or removable compact disc or accessed through an internet link or through any other means, that falsifies the electronic records of electronic cash registers or other point-of-sale systems including, but not limited to, transaction data and transaction reports.
"Phantom-ware", a hidden programming option that is embedded in the operating system of an electronic cash register or hardwired into the electronic cash register and may be used to create a virtual second till or to eliminate or manipulate transaction records to represent the true or manipulated record of transactions in the electronic cash register.
(b) A person or entity that sells or offers for sale an automated sales suppression device or phantom-ware shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by this chapter, be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for the first offense and not more than $50,000 for each subsequent offense. A person or entity that purchases, installs, transfers, maintains, repairs or possesses an automated sales suppression device or phantom-ware shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by this chapter, be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for the first offense and not more than $25,000 for each subsequent offense. The penalty shall be paid upon notice by the commissioner and shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as a tax.Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 62C, § 35F
Added by Acts 2020, c. 227,§ 32, eff. 12/11/2020.