The receipt lottery is preparing to change. After years of postponements, the government intervenes with the 2027 maneuver to allow consumers to immediately find out if they have won a prize after making a purchase. The novelty concerns the instant extraction system, which will allow you to participate through a QR code printed on the receipt and to verify any winnings directly from your smartphone. The bill also introduces a simplified procedure for collecting winnings of less than 5 thousand euros.
How the instant receipt lottery with the QR code will work
The system planned for the new lottery will be different from the one currently used. Today the consumer must communicate his lottery code to the shopkeeper before issuing the receipt, to participate in the periodic draws.
With instant mode, however, the commercial document will have a two-dimensional code, in QR code or Data Matrix format, which can be viewed using your smartphone.
According to the technical scheme examined by the Privacy Guarantor in 2023, participation will take place via the free “Gioco Legale” app, prepared by the Customs and Monopolies Agency. It will be necessary to authenticate with Spid or electronic identity card and scan the code shown on the receipt. The application will allow you to associate the purchase with the lottery code even when this has not been communicated at the checkout.
Once the procedure has been completed and the requirements have been verified, the system will communicate any winnings. The new method is intended to complement the weekly, monthly and annual draws, without necessarily replacing them. The definitive operating rules must however be confirmed by the implementing measures.
How can you collect prizes of less than 5 thousand euros
The collection of winnings of amounts lower than the threshold established by Article 49 of Legislative Decree 231/2007, currently set at 5 thousand euros, is also simplified. In these cases, according to the text of the maneuver, payment can be made by simply showing the winning title, “without the obligation to identify the winner”. However, for prizes equal to or greater than 5 thousand euros, identification obligations will continue to apply.
The scheme examined by the Privacy Guarantor also provides that the application generates, after verifying the win, an additional code to be used at the establishments authorized to collect. The procedure and related deadlines must be confirmed in the implementing regulations.
How much can you win today with the receipt lottery
While waiting for the new rules, the receipt lottery continues to operate with traditional draws, reserved for adults resident in Italy who make purchases of at least one euro with electronic payment instruments at merchants participating in the system.
There are currently 15 weekly prizes of 25 thousand euros for consumers and the same number of 5 thousand euros for merchants. Every month, 10 prizes of 100 thousand euros are awarded to buyers and 10 of 20 thousand euros to shopkeepers. The annual draw offers a prize of 5 million euros for the consumer and one of one million for the merchant.
Every euro spent allows you to obtain a virtual ticket, up to a maximum of one thousand tickets per single receipt. Purchases made online and those in the exercise of a business, art or profession are excluded.
Receipt lottery winnings are not subject to tax. For instant mode prizes, however, it will be necessary to wait for the official definition of the amounts and the number of winnings available.
When will the instant receipt lottery start
Despite the new provision contained in the maneuver, it is not yet possible to indicate a certain date for the start of instant winnings.
The project had already been foreseen by the 2022 legislation. In January 2023 the Revenue Agency had approved the technical specifications necessary to print the two-dimensional code on receipts, while in July of the same year the Privacy Guarantor had expressed a favorable opinion on the scheme relating to the functioning of the new method.
Article 31 of the 2027 budget bill now intervenes on the management of payments, but will first have to pass parliamentary examination. Subsequently, administrative documents will be necessary to complete the activation of the service. Until then, to participate in the receipt lottery it will be necessary to use the lottery code generated for free on the official portal and communicate it to the shopkeeper before purchasing.
The calendar of the next receipt lottery draws
The receipt lottery currently includes three types of draws, on a weekly, monthly and annual basis.
| Extraction | When it takes place | Consumer Award |
| Weekly | Every Thursday | 15 prizes of €25,000 |
| Monthly | Second Thursday of the month | 10 prizes of €100,000 |
| Annual | Date established by the Customs and Monopolies Agency | 1 prize of €5 million |
For weekly draws, receipts registered from Monday to Sunday of the previous week participate. For monthly ones, the receipts from the previous month. The annual draw concerns purchases from the previous year.
The next monthly draws for 2026 are November 12th and December 10th. The date of the annual draw is still to be defined in the official calendar.