The Reciept Lottery

  Neili, Taiwan
Tuesday, March 27, 2007

This is something most definitely Taiwanese. A wonderful ploy the government thought up to try to force businesses to give receipts, and therefore keep sufficient financial records.

Every receipt here has the same standard design - long, thin, white. The shop can print their own ads etc on them, but they're basically the same. The idea of forcing the businesses to give out these scraps of paper is found in the line of 8 numbers across the top - every two months, they hold a 'lottery', where you match the numbers on the receipts you've amassed and sorted over the past 60 days top numbers they draw. The idea is people want to play, so they ask for the receipt. This is a very money driven culture, this actually seem to work!

So, this Sunday was one of the drawing days. Like a good model citizen, I've been keeping my receipts (mainly for the novelty value!), and today I dug them all to check off the numbers.

01 - The pile of receipts

If you match all 8 you can win 1million NT, which is a pretty nice sum considering these are bits of paper you got for free! Most prizes are much smaller though - you get different amounts for matching the last (not the first!!) 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 numbers.

Tickets clutched in my hand (this was difficult, there was a lot of them!) I looked on tealit, the expat website here for the numbers. Would one of these seemingly insignificant bits of paper make me rich? First number......no match. Boo! Papers dumped on the floor.

02 - The fortune!

 Second number..... no match! More paper dumped on the floor. Third number.... 883... hang on a minute.... 883... I'm a winner!!! Whoo! Stop the press I've won the lottery!! Hooray!! How many numbers match? Can I afford to buy i private jet, or an island or two? Alas, only three numbers. $200!!! Wow, 3 pounds fifty...

I'm off to the pub, it's just enough for a pint!


To see a bit more about this magical money for free game, take a look here:
http://www.tealit.com/lotto.htm