An image of a receipt from Full Moon BBQ in Alabama recently went viral for the wrong reasons. This was from a customer who visited on October 24 and paid a total of $41.34 for a meal. Originally, this meal would have cost $38.22. However, an additional $1.15 was added as part of an ‘impact fee’ before tax. At the bottom of the receipt it said: ‘Due to the impact on all paper, food and labor, a 3% impact fee will be added to each order. Thank you.’

This image was shared on Reddit by a disgruntled customer and the receipt prompted hundreds of comments by Alabamans who lambasted the fee. It is believed that this fee is enforced in all 16 Full Moon locations across the state. The screenshot can be seen below.

The obvious solution to avoiding stealth taxes is for restaurants to simply raise their prices. This may be annoying for the customer but is arguably less infuriating than falling foul of a stealth tax. This was put forward by one commenter who wrote: “Yeah, no. Just raise your prices. This is called the price of doing business.”

Unfortunately, this behavior is becoming increasingly more common, not just in Alabama but also across the USA. Ultimately, it is customers who have to pay extra but arguably, there are less frustrating ways of raising prices.