The new national draw based on the submission of invoices starts in April with Audi beating BMW as the chosen supplier of the 'Fatura da Sorte' prizes.
The Audi A4 and the Audi A6 are the two models that those registered on the Portuguese tax system will be able to win in the 'Invoice of Luck' draw.
April 1st is the start date and one car a week will be given away until March 31st, 2015 when the scheme will be reviewed.
The Ministry of Finance has chosen the Siva Group, importer of Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda, to supply the vehicles.
In a normal lottery week, one Audi A4 will be given away in the ‘under €39,360’ category. There will be two special draws, one in the summer and one at Christmas time. In the special draws the prize is an Audi A6 with a value ‘equal to or less than €51,660.’
Each month, the Tax Authority will assign coupon numbers for the weekly draw. A decree published in the Official Gazette explains that the any participating taxpayer will receive one coupon 'for every €10, or fraction of €10, up to the total value of the bill including taxes for each purchased registered.’
With no explanation given, certain invoices will not be accepted including those for cinema tickets, tolls and parking charges.
Not all are happy with this new inducement from the Tax Authority.
The boss of consumer champion DECO has accused the government of trying to turn taxpayers into tax collectors. Jorge Morgado's opinion is that "No society can live without a correctly administered tax system to pay for health, education and roads," but he is critical of this new emphasis on the buyer to do the tax department’s job, turning the public into “tax collectors and monitoring agents."
Vasco Guimares of Portugal's Professional Association of Tax and Customs Inspectors made it clear, "what the Tax Authority wants is another tool for monitoring people’s expenditure against their declared income."
"There are two objectives that the IRS has, an educational one for people to get in the habit of registering their numbers when buying something, and a systems management one so the Tax Authority can build up a consumption profile of taxpayers," added Guimares.
The president of the Court of Auditors, Oliveira Martins, considered it a ‘fundamental role’ of the taxpayer to prevent corruption, "unless we have the citizens’ collaboration we will never get the evidence needed to counter these (evasion) problems. Without the active contribution of taxpayers there will be no improvements."
