In the three and a half years of the receipt lottery being active in Latvia, the state budget was increased by EUR 10.9 million, as reported by State Revenue Service (VID).
The receipt lottery organised by VID concluded on Sunday, the 19th of February, with a grand final lottery.
In three and a half years during which the lottery was active it was attended by 241 189 people, who submitted a total of 41.8 million receipts, tickets, online purchase receipts and certificates.
Analysis of receipts submitted by residents helped VID determine information about various companies’ undeclared income. Following an invitation from VID, companies submitted 2 749 clarified VAT declarations.
There were also cases uncovered when companies were using unregistered cash registers, when services were being provided by companies whose economic operations were previously suspended. There were also cases when companies were engaged in illegal employment and payment of envelope wages.
In total, receipt lottery helped increase state budget revenue by EUR 10.9 million in the last three and a half years. This among may yet increase, because VID continues analysing the receipts submitted in 2022.
The receipt lottery, which took place last Sunday, offered 10 money prizes – five prizes worth EUR 2 000, four prizes worth EUR 10 000 and one big prize worth EUR 20 000.
Ten receipts were randomly picked for the lottery every week over the course of a year. 120 receipts were picked for the lottery during the year. However, only 101 participated, because 17 winners did not participate in the lottery after receiving a text message notification. Two people had submitted receipts that did not meet requirements of the lottery.
Winners are not required to sign up to receive their prizes, because VID already has all the necessary information to transfer the money. Prizes are paid to the participant’s registered bank account within 30 days. Winners are not required to pay tax for the prize because this income is not taxable.
Residents from all parts of Latvia participated in the lottery. A total of 1 973 prizes worth EUR 1.4 million were paid as part of the lottery.
As overall activity of participants went down, in 2022 the Saeima decided to discontinue the receipt lottery.
VID representatives say that the habit of taking receipts after purchase is important even without the lottery. Receipt, certificate ticket or other documents proving a purchase is not just an official confirmation of purchase, it is a document of guarantee to help residents protect their consumer rights. At the same time, if residents face situations when receipts aren’t provided to them after purchase, VID invites them to report such cases and contribute to the battle against grey economy.