Missing by one number is missing by a mile when it comes to winning the NT$10 million (US$339,000) Uniform Invoice lottery — just ask the author of a post on Facebook recently, whose invoice was off by one digit.
The lucky number for the Uniform Invoice lottery for November and December last year was announced on Jan. 25.
The Uniform Invoice system was first thought up in the 1950s to stabilize the government’s source of income.
The bi-monthly lottery, using 3 percent of annual business taxation as funding — as stipulated by Article 16 of the Measure Governing Uniform Invoice Lottery Prize (統一發票給獎辦法) — was introduced to encourage the public to ask for invoices and also preventing businesspeople from evading taxes.
The Ministry of Finance only launched the NT$10 million special prize for the Uniform Invoice lotteries last year and there have been 58 winners so far, with 43 who have already cashed in their prize.
The Facebook social group, Ku MEN Fans, shared the picture of the unlucky invoice on Monday, with the “editor” of the group saying: “There was once an honest chance placed in front of me, but I did not appreciate it; then I regretted most bitterly when I lost the chance, and there can be nothing more painful than this. If I may be given another chance, I would wish for … [NT$]10 million.”
The post sparked a discussion on Internet forums, with one contributor saying: “If I knew I would have cut in line no matter what.”
Cheng Liang-wen (鄭良文), the manager of the Taoyuan County FamilyMart that gave out the invoice that won the NT$10 million prize, said the winner won with the purchase of a NT$25 loaf of bread at 9am on Nov. 20.
Cheng said it was only after some customers talked about it on the day of the announcement of the lucky number that the clerk started looking through the store’s copy of the invoices and ascertained that the store was indeed the one that printed the invoice.
“A friend also wrote on my Facebook page that the netizen who posted on the Web saying his invoice was one digit off was his friend,” Cheng said
The friend also said that if the other person had bought something at the FamilyMart a minute earlier Chang could have also considered early retirement, Chang said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS