The Uniform Invoice or Unified Invoice, better known as the Taiwan receipt lottery (traditional Chinese: ????; simplified Chinese: ????; pinyin: T?ngy? f?piào), is a form of state lottery managed by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of China.
The lottery was conceptualized by the first Kuomintang (KMT) finance chief, Jen Hsien-qun (traditional Chinese: ???; simplified Chinese: ???; pinyin: Rèn xi?nqún), to boost tax revenues in the early days of the KMT government. The introduction of this lottery on 1 January 1951 encouraged locals to obtain receipts for every purchase made with businesses with a monthly turnover of NT$200,000 (US$6,200) and above. As a result, the Finance Ministry collected NT$51 million (US$1.6 million) that year, representing a 75% increase from the NT$29 million (US$900,000) collected in 1950.
The lottery drawing in Taiwan falls on the 25th of every odd-numbered month, i.e., January, March, May, July, September and November. Six sets of eight-digit numbers are drawn and announced in a 'live' televised ceremony presented by an emcee, during which four models roll out the winning numbers from hand-turned lottery machines. Six prizes are announced during the ceremony. As of 2011, the "Special Prize" has been increased from NT$2 million (US$63,000) to NT$10 million (US$342,000). "First Prize" of NT$200,000 (USD $6,200) are offered to customers with the receipts matching the 8-digit numbers drawn. Subsequent prizes valued at NT$40,000 (US$1,300), NT$10,000 (US$313), NT$4,000 (US$136), NT$1,000 (US$31) and NT$200 (US$7) are available to receipt holders who match the final 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3 digits, respectively, on their invoices. In keeping with Taiwan's "convenience store culture", some major convenience store chains will redeem receipts for the smallest (NT$200) prize by allowing customers to buy that amount of products with a winning receipt; larger prizes must be redeemed at a government tax ministry office.
In conjunction to the 60th anniversary of the invoice lottery, the Finance Ministry announced a 33% increase in the total prize value to NT$7 billion (US$20 million) in 2011.
The Ministry started an e-invoice initiative in 2006 with the intention of facilitating e-commerce and reducing the number of receipts that need to be physically printed (currently about 11.5 billion every year). Lee Sush-der of the Ministry of Finance indicated that if 8 billion paper receipts could be replaced with e-invoices, 80,000 trees could be saved. The intermediate goal is to reduce the invoice process cost by NT$7.4 billion by 2013, with an expected total savings of NT$120 billion once comprehensive e-invoicing becomes the norm. E-receipts set for trial run.
Video Uniform Invoice lottery
See also
- Gambling in Taiwan
- Economy of Taiwan
Maps Uniform Invoice lottery
References
External links
- Uniform Invoice Main Page (English)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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