Austria cancels planned receipt lottery

Austria's planned "receipt lottery," designed to boost the use of digital invoices, has been canceled, according to the Finance Ministry. The initiative, set to launch in October, aimed to motivate citizens to embrace digital receipts by offering monthly prizes.

Under the lottery scheme, individuals submitting their receipts through platforms like FinanzOnline would have been entered into draws for 100 prizes of €2,500 each month. Additionally, bonus draws were planned, featuring two grand prizes of €250,000. The lottery was intended as an incentive for businesses to use cash registers for all transactions and encourage customers to request and retain their receipts.

However, the Finance Ministry has confirmed that the lottery will not move forward. Instead, the ministry plans to implement other measures to support the introduction of digital receipts while simultaneously addressing tax evasion. The decision was reported by "Kronen Zeitung" and confirmed to APA by Minister Markus Marterbauer's office.