How to make a contest or giveaway on VK? Every day, many companies hold VKontakte competitions. At the same time, some receive influx of new subscribers and clients, while others, at best, just give out gifts, at worst, get banned(ban on publishing posts for a week until the community is completely blocked).
The fact is that VK has a set of rules regulating this method of promoting groups, such as competitions and sweepstakes. Violation of the rules may result in sanctions, including lifelong ban. Complaints about the competition to the support service are written by users themselves, including competitors. In this post we will tell you how to create a contest or giveaway that will help and will not lead to negative consequences.
Goals of competitions
First, it’s worth thinking about the goals of the competition. You shouldn't do pranks because everyone does it. Create and conduct competitions only with a full understanding of why you need it and how it will work for you.
- Attract subscribers to the group;
- Promote sales;
- Tell about a new product/service;
- Image, recognition;
- Loyalty.
VKontakte competitions can be held for one of the above purposes or include several.
There are often competitions in which you really want to participate, but the mechanism for participation is so complex that you either scroll past it or postpone it until later. From this follows the main rule for creating conditions for participation in competitions - create a mechanism for participation as simple as possible, this will attract many more participants. Also, try to be very specific about what you need to do to participate and add a call to action at the end.
Here are the most common examples of competitive conditions:
- repost (there will be a lot of freeloaders);
- add your photo to the topic;
- VK beauty contest;
- comment competition;
- creative competition (poems, drawings, videos);
- photo in the store or with the product;
- photo review (win-win competition).
Today, the walls of many VK users are littered with reposts of various competitions, and some specifically create fake accounts just to participate in competitions, so a competition with reposts, although it turns out to be effective in terms of attracting new subscribers and increasing reach, does not work well in attracting clients. The conditions here are simple: join the group, repost it on your wall and don’t delete it until the end of the giveaway. But making several reposts is already too much.
Be sure to indicate the timing of the event and make it limited so that users do not put off participating (and then completely forget) and participate right now.
How to post?
The design of the text with the terms of the competition and the attached picture should also be given attention.
The text should be divided into paragraphs, and each paragraph should be highlighted using emoji, which fits the meaning. Such text will be easier to read and perceive by users. Here is an example of a concise description:
Using an image attached to the post, you need to attract attention and, in an even more concise form, inform about the conditions, prizes and the date of summing up.
Prizes for the competition
Most SMM specialists are sure that the success of the competition largely depends on the value of the main prize (that’s why everyone is playing for the latest version of the iPhone). But it is not always necessary to set aside such a budget for a competition - it is in such competitions that there are the most “professional participants”, while others, on the contrary, may have doubts - “I won’t participate anyway, I won’t win such a prize / or it’s a scam.”
It is best to give away not one prize, but several and make them desirable primarily for your target audience. You can also give away your product or service.
In addition, according to the rules of VKontakte, in order to hold a competition you must immediately determine what the prize will be. And if there are several of them, write down which prize corresponds to which place, so that there is no confusion and dissatisfaction later.
Attracting participants
If you have already managed to talk about your giveaway on all your pages and even on your website, but there are still few participants, there are two more great ways to promote yourself:
- Paid: .
- Free: find all the giveaway groups in your city, most of them will be happy to repost your competition completely free of charge.
Determining the winner of a competition or drawing
Depending on the conditions of the competition, there are several main ways to determine the winners.
- We produce using special services, random number generator, etc.
- According to the results audience voting(beware of markups).
- Expert jury— for this method of selecting winners, it is worth describing in detail who will be on the jury and by what criteria to select the winner.
If you do not want to be accused of rigging the results of the competition, then provide evidence that everything was fair. For example, make a live broadcast of the drawing or at least just a video recording. As a last resort, you can take a screenshot of the service page that identified the lucky winner.
After the winner is determined, write a post where the winner’s name is a link to his page, then he will receive a notification and other community members will see that everything is fair. And under the entry with the competition, publish a link to the post with the results.
We will talk about holding a competition with a prize-gift on social media. networks, or rather, about a competition for reposting or liking VKontakte.
Here are some tips for those who want to run an effective and reliable prize draw.
1) Simple and clear terms
The conditions for participation in the drawing must be stated clearly and understandably. They must be unambiguous and not mislead participants.
2) Correct formatting of the post about the competition
The type of post is not only important for attracting attention. If this is the post that participants in the giveaway should repost or like, you need to make sure that it looks good in the form of a repost. Spend a couple of minutes making a test repost. Make sure that the name of the prize, conditions of participation, picture or photo are immediately visible in the repost.
The picture of the prize is very important - it must be bright, clear and of good quality. If you have minimal knowledge of graphic editors, you can place an inscription about the draw and the name of the group on it.
Use emoticons to visually highlight the main points of the post and divide it into blocks.
Here's an example of a well-designed post:
3) Advertise the competition
Find VKontakte groups that collect similar pranks and ask them to post.
You can also conduct a paid advertising campaign and place advertisements for the draw in communities and groups on VKontakte with an audience of interest using the convenient Sociate service.
4) Follow the competition
It is important to know how the competition works and not to leave everything to chance. Practice shows that a third of participants do not comply with the conditions of the competition, without knowing it. For example, they repost, but forget to join the group. At the same time, they are sure that they are already participating in the drawing and have done everything as required.
Let participants see for themselves that all necessary actions have been completed: by adding a competition to our catalog, you will get access to a statistics page where you can see how many people joined the group, which of them reposted, and who did not fulfill the necessary conditions. It looks like this.
Use this information to run a giveaway. Just copy the link to the statistics and show it to the participants of the drawing.
This way people can immediately see what still needs to be done. This allows you not only to increase loyalty to your group and get rid of unpleasant questions after the competition, but to increase the number of participants, and therefore subscribers.
5) Particular attention is paid to determining the winner.
The time has come to sum up the results and choose the winner of the prize.
Try our free Random Winner app
Competitions are one of the easiest ways to attract attention to your project. In this case, there is not much difference whether we are talking about a large business or, for example, about the development of a small VKontakte group. The social network VKontakte is the largest in Russia. Through VKontakte communities you can communicate with clients and like-minded people. You can attract new users to communities quite easily if you organize a reposting contest in it.
Why organize a VKontakte repost competition?
A properly organized and conducted fair competition allows you to increase the loyalty of people interested in your activities in the community and attract new people. The repost competition means that the user will need to complete a few simple steps to take part in the drawing, for example:
- Subscribe to the community;
- Repost a specific post with information about the competition;
- Wait for the date of summing up.
It is not necessary to win expensive prizes. To attract a new audience, it is better to hold competitions on a regular basis with small gifts than to give away an expensive prize once, which will go to one of the participants.
Please note: Choose the right prize for a repost competition on VKontakte. For example, if you are the owner of a fitness club chain, give away memberships for free visits. The prize should be of interest to the audience that is in your group.
How to conduct a draw based on VKontakte reposts
Holding a VKontakte repost contest is not difficult, but in order for it to be effective and attract a new audience, it is recommended to follow several important rules:
Remember that when conducting a draw based on VKontakte reposts, the entry about the competition should not go down in the feed. Be sure to pin it in your community.
How to determine the winner based on VKontakte reposts
Since repost competitions select winners randomly from all users who reposted, it is necessary that the results be as transparent as possible for all participants. We recommend using Lucky You app! VKontakte, which allows you to determine the winner based on reposts.
To use the application, just find it in the list of social network programs. After that, insert the link to the entry with the drawing and click “Determine Winner”.
Please note: If the terms of your competition required not only to repost the entry, but also to join a group, you must also insert a link to the group.
The application will automatically randomly determine the winner of the competition. What’s important is that a link to the results of the competition will be generated, which you can add to the post about the results so that group members do not doubt your honesty and impartiality.
The number of projects carried out by Lioncom in 223 cities of Ukraine has already exceeded the thousand mark, so we are no longer able to keep all the accumulated knowledge within ourselves, and we will be happy to share our experience.
Today we will talk about the prize draw, the rules for holding it and the mistakes that are usually made at events.
This article will be useful, first of all, to the hosts and coordinators of holiday giveaways.
RULE 1. Always-Always-Always conduct only fair draws.
Believe me, a reputation earned over the years can be irretrievably lost in an instant. And for what? Not a single TV, car or even a certificate with an impressive number of zeros is worth a stain on your reputation and an end to your career! If you accept this simple truth, you will be able to be proud of your own work and the work of your clients, and in addition will receive a bonus to your karma!
After talking about morality, Lioncom offers to work on mistakes together so that the priceless pranks won’t be excruciatingly painful.
RULE 2. Preparation and planning
Before the start of the drawing, it is necessary to organize the site so that the gathered guests do not interfere with the passage to the store, so as not to create obstacles to the normal functioning of the client’s main activity. In addition, it is necessary to think about how the winners will get on stage so that there is no unnecessary fuss in the process.
It is also necessary to instruct an assistant to record the details of all winners. This may seem like an unnecessary manifestation of bureaucracy to you, but believe me, this is a necessity that can help you out in case of omissions with the client or any disagreements when providing a report on the drawing. And then you will be very grateful to this article for its advice and to that fragile girl with a piece of paper and a pen for her simple work.
RULE 3. Transparency of the draw
Do not use a cardboard box, hat or bag to determine the winner. The lottery machine should always be transparent!
This is not just a prank tool, it is a symbol of justice. Don’t give the audience any reason to doubt that their win or loss is the dictates of fate. Let them hope for Fortune’s favor, squeeze the rabbit’s feet tighter and not take their eyes off the mesmerizing dance of pieces of paper inside the lottery machine.
RULE 4. Be honest, but don't trumpet it.
If you are the host of a prank, just forget, erase from your vocabulary the phrases “everything is fair with us!”, “no deception” and the like. It's just a taboo prank.
Remember the phrase “sleight of hand and no fraud”? We agree that she simply emits the smell of deception. Nothing causes more mistrust than a call for trust. Remember: customer trust is presumed, but its status is so precarious that it can be shaken by a slight blow of the autumn wind. They don’t believe so much as they doubt. You can't dispel the fog, but you can illuminate the road with a flashlight!
The work of the presenter during the prize drawing is a jeweler's work. So don't forget white gloves, tweezers and confidence!
We must leave the right to doubt to the participants of the draw! After all, rights and freedoms are protected by the International Convention and the Constitution of Ukraine!
So “doubters” are not a problem! You need to focus your attention on the “lottery atheists.” To all non-believing Thomases who are telling you that this is all a scam, mentally suggest visiting a speech therapist, and publicly try to kindly and correctly ridicule their position.
You can tell a story from your own practice. In general, it is useful to have a couple of life stories in your arsenal for all occasions (and it doesn’t matter whether they are real or fictitious, the main thing is that they are from the heart). If you don’t have one yet, we’ll share with you one of our golden reserves.
“Once, at the opening of an ATB store in Poltava, a customer filed a police report against me because it was carried out dishonestly: she wanted to win a TV, but she won a microwave! :-)" - Anton Sadykov.
RULE 5. Give the right to decide the destinies of children
Never remove forms from the lottery machine yourself. The leader is not trusted. He is perceived as an interested person. Each participant in the drawing knows that the presenter was paid money, this is his job and it is unlikely that he has a good goal to distribute all the prizes to ordinary people like them. But you never know, maybe the leaders are also a magician, or worse, a former thimble-maker with the notorious “dexterous hands.”
Ideally, you need to find a little immaculate angel with an unblemished reputation among those present and entrust this mission to him. Children are our everything! Features during the prize draw.
RULE 6. Show results
Here you need to take into account the scale of the draw: with a small number of guests, the questionnaire can be handed over, but if the results are announced from the stage, you need to make sure there is a screen on which the winning questionnaires will be projected.
RULE 7. Learn to keep secrets.
When making the contents of the questionnaire public, do not forget that the client's personal information must remain protected. So, when showing the profile to the public, the presenter must hide all information that is classified as “top secret”, such as mobile phone number, passport series and number, and so on.
RULE 8. Neutralize threats
At every holiday there is a small percentage of people who are ready at any moment to stir up a scandal from scratch, start a fight or do their share of destruction. We have seen all this repeatedly at openings across the country.
Your task is to identify among those present those who trust you least, or rather, those who disbelieve the most. It is necessary to create a commission from these people, which will become, in the eyes of the audience (primarily, in their own eyes), the guarantee of the fairness of the draw.
Remember one thing, these “scandals” do not want honesty and truthfulness, but attention - so give them attention by winning them over to your side.
Be sure to talk to each of them on stage and find out why they don't believe in honesty. It doesn’t matter what they answer - this will be their finest hour when all the attention is on them.
Being directly near the lottery drum, these people will no longer be able to disturb you.
RULE 9. Follow the rules, but be flexible
The presenter must be primarily on the buyer’s side and treat emerging situations with understanding. The human factor plays a decisive role in the results of the draw: there is a possibility of misunderstanding the conditions, missing some little detail or forgetting something. For example, if the winner left his passport at home, but at the same time he has a license or a foreign passport, the presenter must accept them, because these documents confirm the identity of the citizen in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine. We must be able to forgive mistakes of our clients, but we should not forget that all these concessions take place only in the absence of gross violations, within the error determined by common sense.
Secondly, you need to remember the interests of the other participants. The leader’s flexibility should not be evidence of his weakness; you should not be led by the shouts and cheers of the crowd, as this potentially entails a loss of a sense of control over the situation. It’s worth listening to the lines of the famous song and “don’t bend to the changing world.”
RULE 10. Resolve any controversial situations that arise!
The probability of a perfect draw tends to zero. During its implementation, as a rule, a lot of small difficulties arise, and sometimes serious problems.
The host of the drawing is not just a cheerful guy handing out prizes, he is the main responsible person in whose hands the power and levers of control over the process are concentrated. Of course, we are holding a draw on democratic grounds: the public is the people in whose name all this action is taking place. However, in the event of a “state of emergency” being declared, the reins of government and the right to command are transferred on an absolute scale to the leader.
And here it’s up to you to rule the roost. You are the Supreme Judge in all matters. And of course, you listen to all sides of the conflict, listen to the opinion of the jury (represented by the commission), but the decision is yours. And it must be rational, fair and unshakable.
RULE 11. Show the “main” at the very beginning
Before the start of the drawing, if there is a coordinator or other responsible person present at it, introduce it to the public, inform that it is this person who will make decisions in controversial situations. Such a gesture will automatically increase the authority of this person in the eyes of the participants. And you will be able to prevent questions like “who else is this?” and “why should we even listen to this blonde?”
RULE 12. Follow the timing of the event
The drawing should be carried out optimally quickly: not hastily, slowly, but quickly. Delaying it won't do any good. No matter how paradoxical it may sound, the more gifts are played, the more negativity accumulates. With each disappointment, the internal indignation of the participants increases, but there are always many times more losers than winners.
The ideal timing of the drawing is within one hour, during which 10, maximum 15 prizes and gifts are drawn. If there are more prizes, then it is worth considering a package drawing system: put several gifts up for grabs at the same time, pull out the corresponding number of questionnaires and invite several winners to the stage. This will increase your productivity and prevent the event from becoming monotonous. And the drawing will go faster, and the winners will have more fun taking photos in the company of other lucky winners.
And remember:
GOOD LOTTERY – GOOD KARMA
Presenter at the opening of Ringo's store
To stimulate interest in the company and increase sales, management often resorts to a proven method - raffling off valuable gifts among customers. How to conduct such a draw taking into account the requirements of the law?
When conducting an incentive campaign, there are important aspects that must be observed so as not to attract the attention of not only the relevant administrative authorities, but also vigilant potential participants of the action (see, for example, the decision of the Moscow Court of October 12, 2016 in case No. A40-159782 /16-94-1415, decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court dated January 12, 2016 in case No. A40-236250/2015-139-1964).
We need to start with terminology. Thus, from January 1, 2014, Federal Law dated December 28, 2013 N 416-FZ “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On Lotteries” and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” established that in accordance with the Federal Law “On Lotteries” the prerogative to conduct lotteries is enshrined exclusively for the state represented by the relevant government agencies. Private companies can only carry out incentive promotions, which should not have signs of a lottery. Otherwise, you may incur administrative liability under Art. 14.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, namely, holding a lottery without a decision of the Government of the Russian Federation on its holding entails the imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in the amount of 2,000 to 2,500 rubles; for officials - from 8,000 to 20,000 rubles; for legal entities - from 200,000 to 300,000 rubles.
So, when carrying out any incentive campaign, it is better to avoid the word “lottery” and, in fact, the promotion should not be one. Thus, the following should be excluded from the terms of the promotion:
- purchasing a ticket for money;
- prize drawing using special equipment;
- formation of a prize fund from proceeds received from ticket sales;
- a random way to determine the winners.
In accordance with the clarifications of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, presented in the letter dated 04/07/2014 N D09i-451 “On carrying out incentive activities”, the implementation of incentive events is the subject of regulatory legal regulation of the Federal Law dated 03/13/2006 N 38-FZ “On Advertising” (hereinafter referred to as the Law on advertising) (see also letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated April 21, 2014 N ED-4-2/7598).
Thus, holding an incentive promotion in the form of a drawing of any prizes or gift certificates, the condition for participation in which is the purchase of goods, is carried out on the basis of the provisions of the Advertising Law.
As stated in paragraph 1 of Art. 3 of the Law on Advertising, advertising is information disseminated in any way, in any form and using any means, addressed to an indefinite number of persons and aimed at attracting attention to the object of advertising, generating or maintaining interest in it and promoting it on the market. Accordingly, an incentive campaign containing these parameters is advertising.
An indefinite circle of persons refers to those persons who cannot be determined in advance as the recipient of advertising information and a specific party to the legal relationship arising in connection with the sale of the object of advertising. Such a sign of advertising information as its intended for an indefinite number of people means the absence in the advertisement of an indication of a certain person or persons for whom the advertisement was created, and to whose perception the advertisement is directed (see letter of the FAS dated 04/05/2007 N ATs/4624).
According to paragraph 2 of Art. 3 of the said Law, the object of advertising is a product, means of individualization of a legal entity and (or) a product, a manufacturer or seller of a product, results of intellectual activity or an event (including a sports competition, concert, contest, festival, risk-based games, bets), on attracting attention to whom the advertisement is directed.
At the same time, by virtue of clause 3 of Art. 3 of the Law on Advertising, a product is understood as a product of activity (including work, service) intended for sale, exchange or other introduction into circulation.
According to paragraph 27 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated October 8, 2012 N 58 “On some issues of the practice of application by arbitration courts of the Federal Law “On Advertising” (hereinafter referred to as Resolution No. 58), the norms of Article 9 of the Law on Advertising apply to incentive events, the condition of participation in which is the purchase of a specific product and which are held on a competitive basis with prize drawings or winnings.
In fact, an incentive event is a company's actions that encourage consumers to purchase goods (receive services) through the possibility of receiving a prize.
In advertising announcing the holding of a competition, game or other similar event, the condition for participation in which is the purchase of a certain product by virtue of Art. 9 of the Law on Advertising, the following must be indicated:
1) the timing of such an event;
2) the source of information about the organizer of such an event, the rules of its holding, the number of prizes or winnings based on the results of such an event, the timing, place and procedure for receiving them. In this case, an indication of the source of information must be made in such a way that the consumer has an unconditional understanding that he will receive from this source the entire amount of information about the ongoing promotion. The wording “details on the website...” is incorrect, because it only invites the consumer to visit this site on the Internet, and not receive information about the promotional event. It is best to state clause 2 of Art. in the text of the promotion word for word. 9 of the Law on Advertising and indicate the appropriate source (website, telephone, etc.).
Thus, the Law on Advertising establishes the need to bring to the attention of consumers advertising a promotional event the conditions and rules for participation in such an event, while the timing of the relevant event must be indicated directly in the text of the advertisement, and a link to information about the organizer of the promotional event and the rules for its conduct , the number of prizes or winnings based on the results of such an event, the timing, place and procedure for their receipt is permitted by indicating the source of such information.
Within the meaning of Art. 9 of the Law on Advertising, its action is aimed at protecting an indefinite circle of people - consumers of advertising from receiving information that could mislead such consumers regarding the timing of the relevant event and the procedure for participating in it, so as not to create in such consumers the illusion of possible participation in the promotion event, the period for holding or registering participation in which has already expired (see, for example, the decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court dated October 12, 2016 in case No. A40-159782/16-94-1415, Resolution 9 of the AAS No. 09AP-34885 /2013 dated November 13, 2013 in case No. A40-83690/2013).
Failure to comply with these requirements entails administrative liability under Part 1 of Art. 14.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, namely a fine for citizens in the amount of 2,000 to 2,500 rubles, for officials - from 4,000 to 20,000 rubles, for legal entities - from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles.
From the height of the letters
However, even if the text of the incentive promotion contains all of the above legal requirements, there are some pitfalls. For example, the font size of the text in a giveaway advertisement also matters.
Thus, in February 2016, KIA Motors RUS held a “Buy Now and Win” campaign, information about which was placed on advertising structures in the Russian Federation and on air on federal television channels. According to the advertisement, it was proposed to buy a KIA car before the end of February with a benefit of up to 150,000 rubles. and in 2018 exchange it for a new one without additional payment. The consumer could well believe that everyone who bought a car would automatically have the right to exchange it for a new one. However, the essence of the promotion is that as part of it, a prize draw was supposed to be drawn among those who bought a car, and only its winners are entitled to a free exchange. Information about this was formally present, but not in a form intended for perception. Thus, the consumer was actually misled regarding the financial service offered, which is a violation of advertising legislation.
However, the courts do not always side with the administrative body. Thus, the company was fined 200,000 rubles. for the fine print in the promotion of the giveaway. The Court of Justice of the Novosibirsk Region canceled the resolution on the imposition of the fine and in its decision dated December 6, 2016 in case No. A45-19627/2016 indicated that the current legislation does not provide for font size restrictions for advertising about incentive promotions. The placement of advertising information in smaller font does not indicate the absence of some essential information about the advertised product. The mere use by an advertiser of such a visual device in advertising as unequal font size does not exclude the possibility of the consumer reading the entire volume of posted information under specific conditions.
The AS of the Stavropol Territory takes a different position regarding font size. In his decision dated December 23, 2015 in case No. A63-12133/2015, he indicated that the fact that the law does not specify the font size does not indicate that the font size can be any, since, as follows from the provisions of Art. 5 of the Law on Advertising, advertising must be fair and reliable and must not mislead the consumer. The footnote text is in disproportionately small font compared to the attractive ad text.
According to paragraph 28 of Resolution No. 58, the advertiser has the right to choose the form, method and means of advertising his product. However, at the same time, he must comply with the requirements imposed by law for advertising, in particular on the inclusion in advertising of warning notices, mandatory information or terms of service.
In this connection, if information is depicted in such a way that it is not perceived, or is poorly perceived by the consumer (font size, color scheme, etc.), and this circumstance leads to a distortion of its meaning and misleads advertising consumers, then this information is considered missing, and the corresponding advertisement is considered improper due to the fact that it does not contain some essential information about the advertised product, the conditions for its purchase or use. Moreover, the assessment of such advertising is carried out from the position of an ordinary consumer who does not have special knowledge.
The information indicated in small print at the bottom of the advertisement is significant, since its absence misleads consumers and deliberately creates an impression about the advertised object that is not actually true. The result is a fine of 101,000 rubles.
It is also worth keeping in mind that according to Part 1 of Art. 4.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation A resolution in a case of an administrative offense for violation of advertising legislation can be made within 1 year from the date of commission of the administrative offense. Therefore, everyone may have already forgotten about the action, and the administrative body can still hold them accountable if they discover them after the end of the action.
Is there a reason?
So maybe he can refuse to carry out incentive campaigns altogether, because there is a chance of incurring a significant fine on himself? “There is no definite answer,” explains Olga Kuznetsova, head of the marketing department of Rodnik LLC (Rodnik shopping center and Almaz shopping center). “Projects aimed at stimulating sales and involving a valuable gift are quite specific and individual. The effectiveness is assessed by the organizers, having information about an increase in sales during the designated period. The more valuable prizes in the fund, the higher the likelihood of completing the main task. The rules of participation play a significant role. If they are available, clearly formulated and not a single link in the organization’s chain breaks, the result will not force itself wait".
When creating the conditions for an incentive promotion, you should avoid the above-described signs of a lottery and comply with the requirements of Art. 9 of the Law on Advertising.
For example, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper held a car draw among its subscribers from October 13 to October 23, 2016. To participate in the drawing, it was necessary to subscribe to the newspaper, fill out a private questionnaire and send it to the editorial office of the publication. The winner, according to the terms of the drawing, was the 5,000th subscriber. In this case, the factor of randomly determining the winner (as in a lottery) is excluded, i.e. the requirements of the Advertising Law are met.
If a drawing is held where the condition for participation is a creative task, then it is logical that the winner will be chosen by a competent jury. The condition for victory will be the talent of the participant, and not the will of chance.
In all cases, participation in the drawing itself must be free, which does not cancel the organizer’s possible condition of purchasing a product or performing any action, for example, opening a bank deposit. It would be useful to fill out a form or application for participation in the competition, which will confirm the participant’s consent to participate in the drawing and familiarization with the conditions of its holding.
Paying taxes
The winner should first of all remember about paying personal income tax. If a gift is received as a result of a competition, game or other event organized for the purpose of advertising goods, then it is subject to personal income tax at a rate of 35% on an amount exceeding 4,000 rubles. (clause 2 of Article 224 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) (see letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 13, 2016 N 03-04-06/27433, dated December 30, 2015 N 03-04-07/77606, letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated March 11, 2016 N BS-4-11/3989@). If the promotion is not of an advertising nature, then the income of the winners (who are residents of the Russian Federation (clause 2 of Article 207 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)) is taxed at a rate of 13%.
“I can give advice,” says Olga Kuznetsova. “If you provide valuable gifts, be sure to sign an agreement with the winners in which the organizer will have confirmation that the winner is aware of the payment of personal income tax.”
The organizer of the incentive promotion is a tax agent who submits the relevant information about the winner and the amount of winnings to the tax authority (clause 1 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Taxpayers who have received income, information about which is submitted by tax agents to the tax authorities in the manner established by clause 5 of Art. 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, pay tax no later than December 1 of the year following the expired tax period, on the basis of a tax notice sent by the tax authority regarding the payment of tax (clause 6 of Article 228 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
In accordance with paragraph 28 of Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the cost of gifts received by taxpayers from organizations or individual entrepreneurs, as well as the cost of any winnings and prizes received in competitions, games and other events for the purpose of advertising goods (work, services), if they do not exceed 4,000 rubles, are exempt from taxation.
As for income tax, since the organization does not generate income from the gratuitous transfer of prizes to individuals, no income tax base is formed in connection with such a transaction. An organization has the right to take into account when taxing profits the costs of purchasing valuable prizes on the basis of paragraphs. 28 clause 1 art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taking into account the restrictions on the amount of expenses provided for in paragraph 4 of the same article.