Receipt has two legal definitions:
(1) A legal document evidencing a buyer has purchased and taken possession of the goods. A receipt can range from a small paper itemization of goods purchased in a retail setting to a document that a person storing an item has to prove another’s ownership (i.e. a warehouse receipt).
(2) The act of receiving something. To illustrate, New York Tax Law § 1147 states that “[t]he mailing of such notice [as is required to be issued by the government under New York tax laws] shall be presumptive evidence of the receipt of the same by the person to whom addressed.”
[Last updated in December of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team]