In Taiwan, the receipt you get at a convenience store doubles as a lottery ticket. It is called the Uniform Invoice. A drawing is held once every two months, and the top prize is a remarkable NT$10,000,000 (about 47,000,000 yen). The system began in 1951 with a reversal of thinking — "if consumers want receipts, shops can no longer hide their sales" — and tax revenue rose 75% in the first year of its introduction, making it one of the world's most successful anti-tax-evasion measures. How does it differ from Japan's invoice system, and if you win as a traveler in Taiwan, can you actually collect? We sort it out from primary sources.
How it works: an 8-digit lottery number on every receipt
Every receipt (Uniform Invoice) issued by a shop in Taiwan carries a government-managed 8-digit number. Based on these numbers, the Ministry of Finance (Taiwan's counterpart to Japan's Ministry of Finance) holds a drawing on the 25th of every odd-numbered month, covering receipts from the preceding two months.
| Prize tier | Condition | Prize money |
|---|---|---|
| Special Prize | All 8 digits match | NT$10,000,000 (about 47,000,000 yen) |
| Grand Prize | All 8 digits match (separate number) | NT$2,000,000 (about 9,400,000 yen) |
| First Prize | All 8 digits match (separate number) | NT$200,000 (about 940,000 yen) |
| Second Prize | Last 7 digits of a First Prize number match | NT$40,000 (about 190,000 yen) |
| Down to Sixth Prize | Depending on how many final digits match | Minimum NT$200 (about 940 yen) |
- Since the lower tiers pay "NT$200 for matching the last 3 digits," a defining feature is that the odds of winning are far higher than in an ordinary lottery. Every purchase adds another "ticket" to your stack
- In recent years Taiwan has been shifting to electronic receipts (cloud invoices) linked to a smartphone app, and dedicated prizes exclusive to electronic receipts have been added. With the app, winnings are even deposited to your account automatically
- Winnings exceeding NT$5,000 are subject to 20% income tax withholding (Taiwan is a country that taxes lottery-style winnings)
Why it was born: from "policing the shops" to "letting customers watch them"
In 1951, unreported and underreported sales were rampant in Taiwan, and there were limits to what tax officials could achieve by going around inspecting shops. The answer offered by Jen Hsien-chun, the finance chief of Taiwan Province at the time, was a reversal of thinking.
"Attach prize money to receipts, and consumers will demand receipts on their own. The moment a receipt is issued, the sale is recorded with the government — the shop can no longer hide it."
- The shop does not issue a receipt → the customer misses out on a "lottery ticket," so they demand one
- The receipt is issued → the sale is recorded, tied to a government-controlled number
- Recorded sales → no escaping the business tax (Taiwan's equivalent of Japan's consumption tax)
The result was dramatic. In 1951, the first year of the system, tax revenue rose about 75%, from NT$29,000,000 to NT$51,000,000. Prize money turned out to be far cheaper than hiring more enforcement staff. It still appears in textbooks around the world as a classic success story of what economists call "incentive design."
The results: a national event running for 75 years
- The Uniform Invoice lottery reaches its 75th year in 2026. Drawing days are broadcast on TV and online, and checking one's numbers has become a national event. The Special Prize is reported to have produced more than 900 "ten-million-dollar winners" so far
- Because the culture of asking for receipts has fully taken root, the capture rate of sales is structurally high, and the system carried straight over to electronic receipts (cloud invoices). Even paper receipts themselves are becoming unnecessary
- Donation boxes for lottery receipts sit in convenience stores, giving rise to a mechanism for donating lottery receipts directly to charities
- Similar schemes have spread to some cities in China (scratch-off invoices) and to South Korea (a cash-receipt lottery), but Taiwan, with 75 years of continuity, is the original
Comparison with Japan: the invoice system "watches businesses," Taiwan "lets consumers watch"
| Taiwan: Uniform Invoice | Japan: Invoice system | |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanism for capturing sales | Consumers demand receipts (prize money as the incentive) | Registration numbers required for input tax credits between businesses (consumers are not involved) |
| Transactions covered | Mainly between shops and consumers (BtoC) | Mainly between businesses (BtoB) |
| Benefit for consumers | Receipt = lottery ticket | None in particular |
| Tax on winnings/prizes | 20% withholding above NT$5,000 | (Japanese lottery winnings are tax-free) |
Japan's invoice system binds transactions between businesses with paperwork, and its power to capture cash-based BtoC sales themselves is limited. Taiwan solved exactly that problem (hidden cash sales) with prize money for consumers. The idea of "replacing enforcement costs with well-designed incentives" also connects to Japanese policy debates such as the refundable tax credit.
Cases relevant to Japanese readers: travelers' receipts can win too
- Receipts you receive while traveling in Taiwan are included in the drawings. Even foreign travelers can collect a prize by presenting a passport and so on (a claim period applies). Don't throw them away before you fly home — keep them until the drawing day (the 25th of odd-numbered months)
- If you work or live in Taiwan, watch out for "taxes on receiving money" that differ from Japan, such as the 20% withholding on winnings over NT$5,000
- And in Japan too, the habit of keeping receipts translates directly into tax savings. The medical expense deduction and business expenses for sole proprietors both start with saving receipts and invoices. The Taiwanese keep receipts "because they are lottery tickets" — for Japanese readers, they are worth keeping "because they become deductions"
Summary
- Taiwan's receipts, the Uniform Invoice, carry an 8-digit number, and a drawing for the previous two months is held on the 25th of each odd-numbered month.
- The special prize is NT$10,000,000 (about ¥47,000,000). The lowest prize pays NT$200 for matching the last 3 digits.
- Introduced in 1951, it raised tax revenue in its first year from NT$29,000,000 to NT$51,000,000, an increase of about 75%.
- Winnings over NT$5,000 are subject to 20% withholding. Japanese lottery winnings are tax-free.
- Receipts you get on a trip to Taiwan are also in the drawing. Foreign tourists can claim prizes by showing a passport, among other steps.
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References (sources)
* Prize amounts and drawing rules are based on information as of August 2026. Yen conversions of New Taiwan dollars use an approximate rate of NT$1 = 4.7 yen. For the details of prize-claim procedures for travelers, check the latest information from the Taiwan Ministry of Finance. This article is provided for informational purposes as a comparison of tax systems.