Articles About Lottery
A gambling game in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes, such as cash or goods, are awarded to the holders of winning numbers drawn at random. Also used in a more general sense to refer to any scheme for the distribution of prizes, especially as a method of raising money for public charitable purposes. Also called lottery game, state lottery, public lottery.
In addition to paying high-tier prizes, states also collect taxes on ticket sales and distribute those funds to various programs. The amount of tax collected on a prize depends largely on two things: ONE – where you bought the ticket and TWO – where you live. New York City, for example, taxes jackpots at a much higher rate than most other cities (3% Federal + 12.5% State), but there are plenty of places that don’t tax winnings at all, or at least not as much.
The New York Lottery offers several payment options for jackpot winners, from a lump sum to payments over 30 years. The exact amount of each payment is dependent on where you buy your tickets, because you pay taxes every year on your jackpot. For more details, see our FAQ page.
Lottery games are popular, and they raise a lot of money for governments. But they aren’t exactly transparent, which makes it difficult to know how the money is being spent. For instance, studies show that the lion’s share of ticket sales goes to lower-income people and minorities. That’s a problem, writes Alvin Chang for Vox, because it means that the lottery is not actually helping to lift up those communities.