"Receipt lottery" is coming

Government to raffle off our tax money from fall 2026

Finance Minister Marterbauer wants to give away 2500 euros each month to 100 winners.(Bild: Diverse Fotografen honorarfrei)

Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer (SPÖ) is planning a "receipt lottery". This is intended to motivate people to take their receipts - whether digital or printed out - with them. There is a prize of 2500 euros for each of the 100 winners per month who send in their receipts digitally. With two special draws, there is even a quarter of a million in it.

The Ministry of Finance is currently working a lot on the Gambling Act and has apparently acquired a taste for it itself. "In order to create incentives for taking digital receipts, a receipt lottery will be introduced throughout Austria from fall 2026," explains Marterbauer. This is intended to "strengthen the receipt culture" and prevent too many sales from bypassing the cash register. From the Ministry of Finance's point of view, however, this is probably to be feared, as the obligation to print out receipts will now be abolished. The government hopes that this incentive will generate more revenue and reduce the black market. It is estimated that 200 million receipts will be issued.

Cash in up to 250,000 euros in a special draw
It works like this: consumers download an app (Fon+), which can be used to scan and manage printed and digital receipts. The measure is primarily aimed at the new digital receipts. As with gambling, you must be at least 18 years old. Financial online access is not a prerequisite.

Every month, a certain number of winners are drawn "at random", who then receive a push message on their cell phone to inform them of their good fortune. In the monthly draws, 100 winners each receive 2,500 euros, plus 250,000 euros for every two lucky winners in up to two special draws. In total, 4 million euros are in the pot throughout the year.

Finance Minister Marterbauer wants to give away 2500 euros to 100 winners each month.(Bild: Diverse Fotografen honorarfrei)

Digital receipts and scanned receipts can be sent in.(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

"No details of purchases transmitted"
The ministry emphasizes that lucky winners only submit the QR code, which contains the seller, the amount and the tax, but no details about what was in the shopping cart or what was ordered in the pub.

The idea is not new and has been around for decades in other countries. In the 1950s, the government in Taiwan introduced it, and Malta has had a lottery with one million euros per year since 1997. Italy raffles off a whopping 36 million euros a year to its citizens, while Greece has 12 million euros in the pot. Above all, the ministry refers to the voucher lottery in Portugal, which ran from 2014 to 2023. According to the BMF, the costs are significantly lower than the benefits. There is also a voucher lottery in Poland and Slovakia.

Some examples, success difficult to measure
However, international experience is actually mixed. It is also difficult to measure the exact effect. It is questionable whether such a voucher game helps to fish out the "black sheep". Even without asking, people are handed hundreds of receipts in everyday life. The measure is certainly not targeted.