ITALY: Receipt Lottery – All you need to know!

In the joint provision of the Customs and Monopolies Agency and the Revenue Agency from January 30, 2021, the rules are established for the receipt lottery.

From February 1st, purchases of goods and services of at least one euro, paid by traceable payment media at merchants that are ready to electronically transmit the fees, will be able to generate virtual tickets valid to participate in the first draw. The first monthly draw is scheduled for Thursday March 11th. From June, weekly draws will be added.

To participate, the lottery code is enough – by simply showing the lottery code to the retailer at the time of purchase. To obtain the lottery code, it is mandatory to enter the tax code in the public area of ​​the “Lottery Portal“.  The code can be printed or saved on a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) and to be shown to the merchant when making the purchase.

The electronic receipt sent electronically by the merchant will produce a virtual ticket for each euro spent, (up to a maximum of 1,000 tickets for each receipt of an amount equal to or greater than 1,000 euros) only if purchases are made completely via electronic (traceable) means of payment such as credit cards, debit cards, ATMs, prepaid cards, cards and apps connected to private payment circuits and limited usability.

No mixed payments are allowed. In this case, participation in the Lottery is not possible. This is officially stated in article 1, paragraph 2 of the mentioned joint provision: “…within the limits of the amount paid at the same time, if an amount equals to or greater than one euro and if paid exclusively and entirely with electronic payment instruments. ” and also stated in the Milleproroghe Decree.

Cash purchases, online purchases, those for which an invoice is issued and those for which the customer provides the merchant with their tax code or health card for tax deduction purposes, cannot participate in the Lottery.

After the extraction of the winning tickets, the Customs and Monopolies Agency will match the lottery code associated with the extracted ticket to the purchaser’s tax code and to the VAT number of the winning operator.

Please note that, from 1 March, it will be possible to report merchants who refuse to acquire the customer’s lottery code, but no penalties will apply. From 1 April 2021, it will be mandatory to have adapted the electronic recorders to the new route for the transmission of payment data.

Each receipt takes part in only one weekly draw, one monthly draw, and only one annual draw. For each draw, prizes are provided for both customer and the merchant from whom the purchase was made.

The purpose of the lottery is the same as the electronic receipt: to combat tax evasion.