Local Restaurant Adds A “Tax” To Bill Surprise Customers
When I go out to eat I must admit I do not really check the bill that closely. One customer did at Zeus' Coney Island, and found quite the surprise, a new tax had been added to the bill.
The customer was taken aback. The three percent tax is showing up for all the customers' bills and it is labeled as a "Special Tax." The customer Elaine Steffek said that she was not told that there would be a new tax on her bill. There was no mention of this on the menu, nothing was posted anywhere at the restaurant and know one at any point told them that there was a new 'tax' that they were expected to pay.
Steffek said that there was no warning about the tax that was going to be on her bill, so she subtracted that amount from her bill (25 cents) and didn't pay it.
A manager at Zeus' Coney Island said that the tax was for COVID-19 to help the restaurant recover.
The State Treasury office was contacted and they said that a business could charge a fee due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they are looking further into this to see if a business can call that fee a tax.