In the US, lotteries are run by 47 jurisdictions — 44 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Most of these states run their in-state lottery games, but the Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries are hugely popular games with all the jurisdictions that continue to draw huge interest. Their jackpots are vastly outnumbered by billions of dollars raised directly from these lottery games. Lottery games are a valuable source of states’ incomes and they are funding everything from health and welfare to education. The popularity of Powerball and the Mega Millions are because they are pretty much always going to roll over to the $ 100 million-plus range with more and more players willing to take their chances.
Unlike European lottery jackpots, which are mostly tax-free (in other ways they are taxed in other ways) and jackpots are paid in lump sums, the lottery wins in the US are taxed and jackpots are made out of annuity payments. If you are a jackpot winner and you choose to receive a lump sum cash payout rather than an extended payout (which most jackpot winners do) link nhà cái, you should receive around half the headline amount, much less money than the advertised jackpot value. If you choose an extended payout, the state takes on the current cash value of a jackpot and buys annuity or bonds that will generate interest on the fund’s future payments. A span of over 25 to 30 years. For example, if you won a $ 14 million jackpot in a multi-state Powerball lottery game, you could take $ 538,461 for a year and get the entire $ 14 million, or accept a lump sum of $ 8,120,000, equal to 58 percent of the $ 14 million won. The state lotteries guarantee that a jackpot winner who has an annuity extended payout dies and his heirs will get all the remaining installments. Many other lottery games for prizes are also taxed in most US states.
Gambling Losses are Tax Deductible
If you spend a significant amount of money on a lottery, your old tickets may be worth the cash. Gambling losses are tax deductible, but only to the extent of your winnings. This requires you to report all your money on taxable income. However, your deductions are only available if you are eligible to itemize your deductions. If you claim the standard deduction, then you can’t afford your taxable gambling losses. The IRS says you cannot win offset losses and report the difference. For example, if you spend, say, $ 1,600 a year on tickets and wins only $ 600, you should report the $ 600 even though your losses amount to $ 1,000. According to the tax rules, if you have gambling losses, you can claim them as an itemized deduction, but you can’t deduct more than the winnings reported. So if you itemize your deductions, you can only take $ 600 as an itemized loss on schedule A.
On the other hand, if you spend $ 600 and win $ 1,600, you should also report $ 1,600. But if you itemize, you can claim the entire $ 600 as a loss on schedule A since you are allowed to report any losses up to $ 1,600. The gambling facility from Form W-2G, Form 5754, wagering tickets, canceled checks or credit records and receipts should be included in the documentation. Ironically, this law helps winners more than it losers. So think positively. Think like a winner, and save those old tickets.
Be the Smart Player
You have to be smart with your play and learn more about lottery games. Get information about new games (online and instant), prizes remaining on instant games, and special winning numbers — that way you know what lottery games you need to participate in. For example, the 6 to 49 Lotto winning probability is 1 in 13,983,816, which is 10 times better than the Mega Millions. Some in-state lottery games even offer second chance lottery draws. Find out about the second chance lottery draws and take your second chance by registering them with any qualifying scratcher codes and entries from scratch games you have purchased.