Unofficial translation:
The North District National Taxation Bureau of the Ministry of Finance stated that if a business owner issues multiple electronic invoices with the same invoice number, and more than one person wins the jackpot, the winners can still claim their prize money. However, any overpaid prize money must be compensated by the business owner, and it will not affect the rights of the winners.
The bureau pointed out that the electronic invoicing system used by businesses should have functions such as automatic invoice number assignment and duplicate number checks, and it should not issue invoices with the same invoice number within the same fiscal year. According to Article 15-1 of the Uniform Invoice Prize Awarding Regulations, if a business owner duplicates or prints unified invoice numbers assigned by the competent tax authorities, resulting in overpayment of prize money by the prize-disbursing unit, the prize money should be compensated by the business owner. Business owners should be cautious and avoid such mistakes.
As an example, the bureau mentioned a case where a food stall named “A Company” was newly established on July 1, 112 (2023). Due to the employee’s lack of system operation knowledge, on July 10, 112 (2023), two identical invoices with the same invoice number were mistakenly issued and given to two different customers. When the employee noticed the mistake, the customers had already left, making it impossible to void and reissue the invoices. If the unified invoice lottery draw for the July-August period was to take place, and the duplicated invoice number happened to win, both winners could claim the prize money. In such a situation, “A Company” would be responsible for compensating the overpaid prize money resulting from the duplicated claims.
The bureau reminded that the invoice number is one of the required items on electronic invoices. If there is a case of duplicate issuance that cannot be rectified, besides compensating for overpaid prize money, the business owner may also face penalties under Article 48 of the Value-Added and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Act. However, if the business owner voluntarily reports the incident to the competent tax authorities under its jurisdiction, based on actual transaction data, without concealing or underreporting the sales tax amount, before being investigated by informants, tax authorities, or investigators appointed by the Ministry of Finance, they may be exempt from penalties according to Article 16, Paragraph 5, of the Criteria for Reduction and Remission of Penalties for Tax Violation Cases, with a limit of three instances within one year. If there are any doubts or questions, please feel free to call the toll-free service number 0800-000-321 for inquiries, and the bureau will provide consultation services wholeheartedly.
Press Release Contact: Sales Tax Division, Chief Zheng
Contact Number: (03) 3396789, ext. 1260
Source: gov.tw
