Retail lottery to collect taxes
Published:Tuesday | February 8, 2011 | 1:40 PM
The Puerto Rico government is using a retail lottery scheme to try to force many small markets, food stalls and other micro businesses to collect sales tax.
The Treasury Department is reportedly turning receipts into lottery tickets, printing contest numbers on each receipt and holding weekly drawings for cash prizes ranging from $100 to a $1,000.
It also plans to have a monthly drawing for a car.
By offering such prizes, the government wants consumers to demand receipts and thereby discourage businesses from dodging the 7 per cent sales tax by making unrecorded cash sales.