I don't know why you think there'd be tax avoidance. Someone has to pay the tax on the winnings whether it's one winner or 20.
Say the ticket belongs to you, and you declare the winnings. You pay the tax on all of it. Then you decide to gift some money to your family. Except for a small amount, that money is then taxed when you transfer it to them (they either include it in their income or you pay 40%.) So every time the money gets transferred to someone, it gets taxed again. If you say "We all won it" it may be to avoid the subsequent transfers (gifts) and the additional taxable transactions. -Virginia says you cannot transfer ownership of a ticket you bought. -Minnesota says you can play as a group, that the state will write each of you a check, and that they "recommend an agreement" (verbal or written.) -Texas says you can play as a group, but the state only writes the check to one entity (individual, partnership, corporation, etc), and that any agreement must be in writing and it must be reviewed by them to make sure it is compliant with the rules (whatever those are.) Obviously, none of this really matters to anyone here, but I've been curious about this rabbit hole mainly because I can't see the gov't permitting tax avoidance by someone who wants to share the winnings, and because Virginia makes no mention of this in their rules, and says that the buyer cannot transfer ownership of the ticket. I've never noticed a case of such sharing here (family, coworkers, etc.) but I don't really follow it.
So who here is holding out on his/her Forum Friends? Someone in Des Plaines, IL won the $1.34 billion jackpot in Friday night's Mega Millions jackpot drawing. It was bought at a Speedway. The owner of the business gets $500,000 for selling the winning ticket. (He asked that we tell his wife it's really $5,000.) Link
I still think jackpots that large are just absurd. How much more fun would it be for 100 or 1000 people to win big? Oh well; they didn't ask me what I think.
Well, there are a number of smaller jackpot lotteries, scratch-offs, etc, which some folks do play, but the large ones (MegaMillions and Powerball) get all the attention. Let's face it, since you are NOT gonna win anyhow, you might as well not win a billion instead of not winning a million... https://flalottery.com/ btw, Powerball jackpot is $170 million for tonight's drawing
Yeh, there's always that kind of talk. The flip side is if there weren't a single winner possibility, then that kind of attention (money) would not be attracted in the first place. But it is insane.
So, if I can find $2, the powerball is worth $1.9 billion now. If I win, after I throw up, what should I do? 20 years ago we had many winners in this town. Things did not go well for the people I knew of. What are you guys gonna do when you win?
I do not want that much money- literally. Greed is a terrible thing. I would help others with what they need to survive or better their situation, not their wants. Many years ago there was a journalist here that was also very wealthy. He had a column in newspaper where you could plead your need for some money. He even traveled to foreign lands and discovered , the people had needs that could change their life. Versus the people in the US , who had wants they felt they deserved. One old lady simply wanted to a sewing machine, because then she could make clothes for her family and sell the rest to help support them. I have never forgotten that ,and to me, that is what being wealthy should be about.
Remember that old tv series The Millionaire? He would give a million dollars to deserving people. The only stipulation was they could not reveal where it came from. $1.9billion can make a lot of millionaires. Unfortunately, the gov't gets half. And my hubby gets half of what is left cuz, he says I will give it all away so he wants his up front. Still, I could live with that.
You know what they say:: A lottery is a tax for people who're bad at math. Having some familiarity with math and statistics, I'd say they're spot on to say that.
We no longer play, but if we did and win that much, well: My wife has a Bachelors Degree in Accounting and has worked in Finance/Accounting for years, so she would be our Accountant. We'd give some, but not much, to family, but, even family can keep wanting more. We'd go to places, like Niagara Falls, England, Paris and Venice that we can only talk about visiting. Buy a nice "ranch" style house, by a lake with a dock for a boat for summer use and another "ranch" style house in a non-winter area for winter. A new boat A new Durango or truck to pull the boat And, attend many, many rodeos around the United States.
Hubby bought a ticket in Indiana on the way back from Ohio. I think it was for a billion then too. He won $4 and he has to go back there to collect. So he got taxed twice.