TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Consumers have more chances to win Taiwan’s receipt lottery this year, despite cuts to the finance ministry’s budget.

According to an analysis by the Taiwan FactCheck Center published Friday, an additional NT$2.9 million (US$88,360) worth of prizes will be available to consumers. The extra prize money will be added to the prize pool for consumers who store their receipts electronically.

The center showed that increased tax revenue in 2024 will add to the ministry’s receipt lottery budget despite a 10% budget cut overall. The cut was passed by opposition legislators on Jan. 21.

The center’s report found due to an increase in tax revenue last year, the budget for the lottery would be about NT$3.5 billion more this year. It would add around 5,800 more NT$500 prizes for consumers who store receipts on apps approved by the finance ministry.

The fact checkers analyzed ministry claims it would have fewer funds to pay consumers who won the lottery due to the budget cuts. The finance ministry posted on Facebook on Jan. 18 saying the budget cuts “may deprive the people of their little happiness and seriously affect the convenience of redeeming prizes.”

The claim was disputed by KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) who said the receipt lottery payments were part of the ministry’s fixed operational costs and could not be cut. The ministry responded that receipt lottery funding was not part of its fixed operational costs and could be cut by the legislature.

The center found both the finance ministry’s and Wang’s claims were partially true. It showed that funds for the expense lottery are part of the ministry’s fixed operational costs, but legislators had previously agreed to cut these.