Companies can claim an expense as long as they have the mean to justify it, usually in the form of invoice or receipt. I have heard of self-employed picking up random receipts (that they didn't incur) to claim against their taxes.
Would a marketplace for trading receipts be legally allowed to operate?
ps: let's say under UK law for argument's sake but I'd be glad to hear about other places too.
Would a marketplace for trading receipts be legally allowed to operate?
Yes, or at least I think so, since it is highly doubtful that any legislation outlaws receipts trading.
Unlike other documents, there is no commonplace notion that receipts are secret, non-transferable, or even private. For it to be actionable, the marketplace would have to engage in, or openly promote, practices which are "more unequivocally" illicit.
The possibility that some people might pursue receipts for tax fraud, enjoyment of unearned rights, or other illegitimate purposes does not imply that trading of receipts in and of itself is unlawful. For instance, a person might come up with a bizarre --but nonetheless plausible-- hobby of collecting receipts with certain sequences of figures.
A market established for the purpose of facilitating a crime (tax evasion) would be illegal in most if not all jurisdictions. It is fundamentally no different from Silk Road.
