(Yicai Global) Nov. 23 -- China will run a pilot scheme adding lottery tickets to invoices starting in December as it looks to standardize the issuance and use of value-added tax invoices. The State Administration of Taxation will run the scheme, starting off in six provinces and municipalities, including Shanghai and Beijing.

The pilot will not cover all industries; it will target four services sectors in which individual consumption is prevalent: catering, accommodation, entertainment and home decoration, the tax administration's Shanghai office said at a press conference yesterday. Some 59,000 tax-paying companies will take part in the program.

The scheme hopes to encourage consumers to collect invoices to standardize issuance at business operators and enhance tax-paying companies' awareness of VAT, said the head of the tax administration.

The invoices will feature tickets for two lotteries, the first of which will offer prizes between CNY5 (USD0.76) CNY100 (USD15.12) to be paid out through WeChat Payment and Alipay, third-party payment platforms run by Tencent Holdings Ltd. [HKG:0700] and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. [NYSE:BABA], respectively. The second lottery will offer larger prizes of between CNY50,000 and CNY400,000.

China offered lottery invoices before, but gradually phased them out as VAT began to roll out in 2012.