Small Winnings Tax Question

Reply #41

justxploring — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:48:30 GMT

Just want to clarify - in my last post I didn't mean that cashing several $500 tickets is dishonest, only sneaking around to hide it from the IRS. It's probably not even necessary.

I wouldn't want to call raise any red flags, although the Lottery usually doesn't give tax advice. You're right about the 50 individual tickets as far as I know. I think the OP is mostly an ethics question. I've seen people cash tickets totalling more than $1,000 at the counter when they have multiple wins.

By... [ More ]

Reply #40

justxploring — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:40:28 GMT

I'm glad you wrote hypothetically since this is unlikely to happen all at once. Where I live there are a lot more than 40 places that sell lottery tickets. So I would cash each ticket at a different store. If I didn't want to bother, I'd just cash 1 or 2 each week at the same store for a few months. Is this dishonest? Probably. But our tax system isn't fair honest, so who cares

Reply #39

rdgrnr — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:50:22 GMT

Save all my losing tickets? Where can I stack all the boxes and crates? Dang it, I knew I should have gotten a doublewide

Reply #38

Clubware — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:50:52 GMT

Save your losing tickets. You can write off the losses against your winnings. Confirm with your accountant or tax attorney but my state office told me that you have to report all winnings and can write off losses against them if they're in the same year.

Reply #37

KY Floyd — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:19:31 GMT

Even the $2 win or $9 win?

Why are so many people confused by the extremely simple concept of taxable income ? If you worked an extra hour this week and were paid with a check for oyur regualr salary but were paid $9 in cash for the extra hour, would you be confused about whether or not it was income?

Since a free ticket is a win, is that $1 to be reported?

You clearly recognize that it's worth a dollar. Te only real question would be if you report it and then take the $1 deduction f... [ More ]

Reply #36

bomatt — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:23:13 GMT

Even the $2 win or $9 win?

Since a free ticket is a win, is that $1 to be reported?

The problem with the cash 4 game is a win is $5000. After taxes is $3500.

1:10,000 odds for $3500.

They withhold $1500 and give a W2, so it would be like a bonus on a job.

Reply #35

tiggs95 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:20:48 GMT

If in Texas or any other state a store will sell you a ticket but not cash the same ticket if it's a winner..I D MOVE!!..It makes no sense at all..Kinda like going to a race track buy a ticket winning and they won't cash the ticket..duuuuuuh

Reply #34

Raven62 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:18:11 GMT

Wishing will not make it so:

How will you center your thoughts and ways of thinking? How will you deal with and control your feelings? How will you determine your desired result from your walk thru life? What procedure will you utilize in your decision making? What is keeping you back? You have a choice between blessing and a curse! Profit or loss! What choice will you make

Reply #33

PERDUE — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:15:51 GMT

Wow, you too are blessed because you have the ability to cash in your $600 tickets without having to trudge to the local lottery office. Oh if only it were true for us. If that ticket registers $600 or more or my tickets add up to more than $600 it's to the local lottery commission office or to more than one retailer to cash in my tickets. I don't know why they won't give us that extra dollar? Can you believe the ticket scanners that are set up in the store has three tunes for the tickets?

Th... [ More ]

Reply #32

Stack47 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:11:55 GMT

Some stores won't even offer a money order and tell the player to go somewhere else to cash.

How easy it is to cash winning tickets under $600 should be part of state lottery report cards. When that statistic class rated all state lotteries, they put a high priority on disclosing the cash value on jackpot games but nothing about the difficulty players have in some states of trying to cash a even a $200 winning ticket.

Reply #31

Stack47 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:46:00 GMT

Kentucky has cash agents and when I had three $400 winning tickets, they cashed each ticket as a separate bet and paid me $1200. I was wondering about taxes on pick-3 straight winners because it pays $600 in Kentucky but the clerk said since the actually win is $599 ($600 minus the $1 bet), there is no tax forms to fill out.

When I lived in Ohio I cashed 10 pick-3 straight winners without any problems but I believe trying to cash 100 tickets to avoid paying taxes would be very difficult in an... [ More ]

Reply #30

PERDUE — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:42:49 GMT

You are truly blessed and highly favored. Did you know that in your state of VT the lottery retailer are required to pay up to $100 on the scratch off tickets but may pay up to $499? And they are reqired to pay up to $499 on the other lottery tickets as long as they were sold by a VT lottery agent?

Once again I will say when you cash in your tickets I consider you blessed and highly favored because at least you know you will be leaving with cash in hand/pocket/shoe, whereas here in TX, when

Reply #29

scorpio — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:58:07 GMT

i wish i was truly blessed,what am i chopped liver

Reply #28

PERDUE — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:54:11 GMT

You are correct up to a point. What you need to realize is that you were very blessed to be able to cash $1,200 worth of tickets at the same time. I will state again here in TX the retailer is not obligated to cash your ticket. They (retailer) do it because they want to not because they have to.

Don't believe me, read it for yourself at the TX Lottery site txlotto.org click on FAQ scroll down to question number 14.

It says, all retailers are authorized but not required to pay prizes of $59... [ More ]

Reply #27

tiggs95 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:03:48 GMT

In any state you can cash up to 599.00 and as many of them as you want without paying any tax..I never cash a big ticket at a small joint I always go to Krogers..If a store can't cash your ticket they should not be selling lottery tickets..It is so simple..You buiy a ticket at a store they have to cash it if you win and if they won't don't buy tickets from that store in Texas or Tuimbucktoooo...Good luck..

Reply #26

PERDUE — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:51:30 GMT

I know this is off topic but do not be surprised if you have to show id and fill out paperwork if you plan to purchase more than one postal moneyorder over $800 to $900 dollars. I discovered this when I purchased money orders of various amounts that were about $2,300 in all. I was told by the window clerk that I had to get approval from her supervisor before I could purchase the money orders. No joke. The clerk said something about money laundering and I had to show my ID and fill out some kind

Reply #25

scorpio — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:49:04 GMT

yeah,we don't have a lot of gamblers here,so h r block acts like they aren't sure how to treat winnings vs losses.

Reply #24

PERDUE — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:26:19 GMT

I am not familiar with how KY retailers treat winning lottery tickets. But I do know that here in my neck of the woods in TX it is up to the retailer as to wheather or not you can cash in that amount of tickets. The fact that you were able to cash in $1,200 worth of tickets at one time then count yourself as very blessed. Because, I know here in my neck of the woods, had you tried to do that you would've had to either do it at 3 separate visits or go to the lottery office to redeem them or ended... [ More ]

Reply #23

PERDUE — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:59:43 GMT

I take my paperwork to an accountant. A few bucks and my taxes are filed online and I get a printed copy of my paperwork. If I get any money back it goes straight to my account. If I owe I mail them a postal moneyorder before the tax deadline to keep from paying interest. The form the lottery commission gives you is called a W2-G. It looks just like your regular W-2 you get from your employer when you file at the end of the year. You would treat this form just like it is a W-2 from a second job.... [ More ]

Reply #22

Dorisdoright — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:36:49 GMT

Any individual winning lottery ticket

Michigan

Prizes up to $600: Can be cashed at any retailer. The Lottery does not withhold any taxes because they do not know.

Prizes from $601 to $5,000: The Lottery does not withhold any taxes but is required to report the lottery winnings to the IRS and Michigan Department of Treasury. The winner will then be required to report the income in the tax year it is won.

Prizes over $5,000: For any Michigan Lottery prize over $5,000, the Lottery is ge... [ More ]

Reply #21

Jack-C — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:26:59 GMT

Thank you very much mjwinsmith for that info.

Notice that the last few items have the amount of $5,000. That is the amount that is reported from the online lottery transactions to banks in the United States from overseas.

Reply #20

scorpio — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:23:58 GMT

yeah,your tax status applies too.if you're a self employed professional gambler then you keep tabs on all winnings,and also all losses which you can match against winnings.here we have a place on back of ticket to sign,but i've only been asked to sign,after a straight pik 4 win of around 1400 dollars.also in a casino if you win $15.00,you don't have to report it usually.

Reply #19

mjwinsmith — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:08:42 GMT

Currency Reporting - Money Laundering

The Currency Transaction Report (CTR) came into existence with the passage of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, better known as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), in 1970.

When the first version of the CTR was introduced the only way a suspicious transaction of less than $10,000 was reported to the government was if a bank teller called an agent and provided the information. This was due, primarily, to the concern by financial in... [ More ]

Reply #18

DC81 — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:10:19 GMT

I think it's just deposits that banks report. But yeah, 10,000 and up they report to the IRS.

Reply #17

caipiao — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:46:23 GMT

the earlier post says if you deposit over 10,000 in bank, the bank is going to call IRS? Any amount over 10,000? Does thatt happen for all money transactions in all finanacial institutions in U.S

Reply #16

tiggs95 — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 13:20:11 GMT

So if you hit a cash 3 for 350.00 you going to call the IRS and tell them you owe them taxes?..This I gotta see..

Reply #15

mjwinsmith — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:53:03 GMT

I am on the same page as you Lantern, I think they already know the answer they just want to hear somebody say they don't have to pay tax on Lottery winnings. Hogwash, you are legally bound to pay tax on the Gain on the $20,000.00 less losses on Lottery winnings. The fact that there is no receipt is NO EXCUSE.

Now having said that, the legal end of it, note there is no record of your winnings, i.e. w2p for Lottery winnings if you go around and cash the tickets at different places. But you mi... [ More ]

Reply #14

Jack-C — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:09:59 GMT

Reply #13

tiggs95 — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:53:06 GMT

PERDUE...Sorry but you are so wrong..If a dollar ticket is less then 600.00 you can cash them all at one time..I tried it and did it..Like I said in my other post I cashed 3 tickets at 400.00 each and they gave me 1,200.00 and no taxes..It's the law..When I play the ponies I buy trifectas at 1.00 instead of 2.00 so if the tri was to pay over 600.00 I don't have to pay taxes..Look it up..

Reply #12

caipiao — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 07:11:55 GMT

good info. I'm 22, still a student and my parents actually did the details of my taxes in the past years. Sad to say, I haven't much (you can say near 0) experience filing my own income tax.

It's nice to hear no tax is taken out of the check you receive that day, but what form would the lottery give you? Is it supposed to be filled out and sent out April 15? If you somehow omiss it and it didn't end up filed, would be in deep doo-doo

Reply #11

PERDUE — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:14:58 GMT

If you decide to cash in more than 1 ticket at a time then yes it will be reported to the IRS and you will receive a form to include when you file your taxes. If you don't want it reported to the IRS then You can go to various grocery stores and cash in the tickets one at a time and it is tax free. Anything over $599 is reported to the IRS through the Lottery Commission and you receive the form to file with your taxes. No taxes are taken out of the check you receive that day. So it will be up to... [ More ]

Reply #10

caipiao — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:11:56 GMT

are you lucky enough to win $20,000 from pick 3? win 40 straight pick3. win it forty times, and then you would have gained lots of money, and paying no tax on any single claim.

Btw, are you allowed to use losing tickets to deduct against winnings? If you come up with $20,000 in losing lottery tickets, maybe you can claim a deduction and say NET WINNING: 0 dollar

Reply #9

LANTERN — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:32:52 GMT

You want to hear that you don't have to pay the taxes that you owe, well, as far as I know, all lottery winnings are tax-able, as Raven said.

This does not mean that everybody pays the money that they owe.

Chances are good that many or even most who win smaller lottery prizes don't report them as taxable income, that does not mean that it is right.

Is it right to pay taxas on lottery prizes? I would say, NO , legal, but not right, yet 2 wrongs don't make 1 right.

For legal advice, as... [ More ]

Reply #8

tiggs95 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:37:34 GMT

Cash your tickets all at once..If you have a single ticket for 599.00 and it cost you 1.00 and you have a lot of them you can cash them all at once..I once hit the 122 three times and it paid 400.00 each..I cashed them at Krogers all at once and they gave me 1,200.00..If you need to pay tax the machine will say you need to pay taxes..The law says 599.00 for a 1.00 ticket..If your not sure call the lottery outlet in your state....

Reply #7

Raven62 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:39:03 GMT

Legally: You're required to Report All Income.

Reply #6

thor — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:36:24 GMT

not a tax expert, but, i agree with the other posters. as long as you cash individually there are no tracking methods. i would suggest contacting your tax preparer and getting their opinion.

Reply #5

CARBOB — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:23:22 GMT

You don't have to report anything, there's no paperwork involved, if you cash them individually.

Reply #4

zxchris — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:07:42 GMT

Right.

But, overall would I be legally required to report I won $20,000 from 40 different tickets at $500 each

Reply #3

lovinwinning — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:03:18 GMT

I cash mine in on different days .

Reply #2

zxchris — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:57:16 GMT

Right.

If I were to cash them all at various retail stores (gas Station, Grocery Store, etc.) not an actual Lottery office.

Reply #1

CARBOB — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:53:55 GMT

I'm not a tax expert but speaking from experience. If I were you, I would contact the Lottery Regional office, if you have one and pose this question to them. I knew a local retailer and he cashed 50 for me and treated them as individual tickets. I may be wrong ,but I suspect the lottery office may not do this.

Small Winnings Tax Question

zxchris — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:30:54 GMT

The max you can cash here in Texas at a Lottery retailer is $599.

So hypothetically what if I have 40 tickets of pick3 worth $500 each, to total $20,000.

Do I have to claim this on my taxes?

Thanks.