Nepal Tax Lottery: First NRs 1 Million Winner Announced

Kathmandu, Aug 7 (PTI) A person who bought goods worth Nepali rupees (NRs) 250 won a NRs 1 million bumper prize on Friday under a newly-launched tax incentive lottery programme that aims to encourage consumers to demand bills.

The NRs 1 million prize is part of the Nepal government's Taxpayer Incentive Gift Programme of the Internal Revenue Department and the Ministry of Finance.

The scheme is for consumers who purchase a minimum of NRs 100 worth of goods in a single transaction by either digital payment or by cash, get a Value Added Tax (VAT) receipt/bill and then upload it to the designated portal of the department.

One customer will be selected every 15 days from among those uploading their bills, according to the scheme. He or she will receive the prize money after a 25 per cent tax deduction at source.

On Friday, the Ministry of Finance, in the presence of Finance Minister Swarnim Wagley, announced the result of the first lottery and selected a consumer who made a purchase in Punarwas municipality in Kanchanpur district of Sudurpashchim province of south-western Nepal.

The consumer, who had purchased goods worth NRs 250 and produced a VAT bill, received NRs 1 million after tax deduction.

Similarly, 15 other customers won NRs 1,00,000 cash prizes each for each day of the July 15 to July 31 slot, according to a statement by the Finance Ministry.

The winners were selected through a transparent lucky draw programme.


"A cryptographically secured uniform random sampling without replacement" procedure was adopted while selecting the winners, the ministry statement said.

Inaugurating the programme, secretary, Ministry of Finance, clarified that the scheme has been announced with the noble objective that the taxes paid by the consumers should come into the state treasury and be used for nation-building, newspaper Ratopati said.

He said the main goal is to promote the billing culture and move the economy towards formalisation, he added.

Finance Minister Wagle said it is an important link to connect taxpayers and consumers with the formal economy. "We have to move towards a billing culture. Taking bills, giving bills, and all transactions should be traceable in the digital world," the daily said, quoting the minister.

Pointing out that Nepal's lottery incentive programme is inspired by international practices, Wagle said, "Taking inspiration from the schemes in Taiwan, Eastern Europe, and some countries in Southeast Asia, we have brought a scheme that is suitable for our soil and favorable to the country."

Wagle had earlier announced the taxpayer incentive programme in the federal budget for the fiscal year 2026-27, saying it would encourage consumers to seek bills and promote transparent transactions, The Kathmandu Post said.

According to the Inland Revenue Department, there are over 7 million taxpayers in Nepal, most of them individuals holding personal Permanent Account Numbers (PAN), the Post said, adding, similarly, there are around 1,93,724 business PAN holders, 3,38,316 businesses registered for VAT, and 1,21,682 excise duty licence holders.

The department will notify winners by SMS and email and publish their names on its official website and social media platforms. Any unclaimed prize money will be transferred to the Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund, the newspaper added.