MGA makes recommendations after Fiscal Receipts Lottery review

MGA conducts review of Fiscal Receipts Lottery
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The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has conducted a review of the current Fiscal Receipts Lottery to ascertain the suitability and reliability of its current operations.

Introduced in 1990, the Fiscal Receipts Lottery involves the draw of fiscal receipts sent by the public to the Ministry for Finance and Employment.

It has grown significantly over the years, with the draws reaching around three million fiscal receipts per month.

The Fiscal Receipts Lottery does not actually fall under the jurisdiction of the MGA; in line with Directive 1 of 2020, entitled ‘VAT Fiscal Receipt Lottery Directive’, the lottery is deemed to be an exempt game in terms of the Second Schedule of the Regulations.

However, the MGA – which officially licensed National Lottery plc as the National Lottery of Malta operator in July – has offered its experience and expertise to ensure the fair and transparent proceedings of the lottery.

“The Fiscal Receipts Lottery Unit and the Authority are committed to taking all the necessary actions to ensure increased transparency in relation to this lottery,” a statement read on the MGA website.

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) embarked on an in-depth assessment of the current Fiscal Receipts Lottery draw, from the collection stage to the drawing stage, to identify any gaps and potential issues in the process, and made a series of recommendations to the Ministry for Finance and Employment.

Upon review of its operations, the MGA found there to be no substantial issues with the fairness of the lottery draw. In fact, the MGA noted the presence of safeguards within the current lottery standard operating procedures.

The lottery’s process includes putting received receipts in containers before pouring them into a raffle drum. Once full, the power switch which is used to turn the raffle drum is locked with a numbered seal to avoid tampering with any of the tickets, with photographs of this procedure then sent to the Officer of the Commissioner for Revenue (CFR) department.

MGA officials have subsequently submitted recommendations for improvements and discussed them together with the Ministry for Finance and Employment.