Uniform invoice lottery award withdrawn for 'improper' receipt collection

Taipei, March 5 (CNA) A consumer has been found to have deliberately bought large numbers of cheap items from online stores to increase the number of receipts received and thereby increase the probability of winning the uniform invoice lottery, resulting in the retraction of the award, according to the authorities.

The person obtained over 10,000 digital invoices from May 2023 to February 2024 and won a total of NT$30,000 (US$950.62), the National Taxation Bureau of the Northern Area said in a statement Tuesday, noting that more than 90 percent of the purchases were small.

The bureau said that it further inspected the purchase items and determined that they did not fit regular consumption patterns and as such violated related lottery regulations.

An official document was subsequently issued withdrawing the award money, the bureau added.

The individual concerned has since returned the lottery winnings after being informed they had violated the regulations, the bureau said.

Although the chance of winning the uniform invoice lottery increases with the number of invoices collected, such invoices must be collected through regular consumption, the bureau said.

Awards won by acquiring large numbers of small purchases without a "valid reason" will not be disbursed, it said.

The bureau noted that all invoices eligible for the bi-monthly awards are recorded, including digital invoices and paper invoices. As such, the Ministry of Finance is able to monitor and report any irregularities in lottery wins, it said.