N.C. woman gets surprise lottery gift from brother

[Hum]

RALEIGH, N.C. ? Maria Juana P. Tolentino, a resident of Candor in Montgomery County, North Carolina, thought she was finished with her family's Christmas on Wednesday. Little did she know that a late gift from her brother, a $5 Mega Bucks lottery ticket, would make her $100,000 richer.

Tolentino was sitting in her living room with her family when she realized she'd won the game's top prize.

"At first I thought it was $100," she said. "We were happy to win that. Then I kept scratching and saw it was much, much bigger. I couldn't believe it."

Tolentino plans to use her winnings, worth $68,001 after taxes are withheld, :/ to make some repairs on her home, share with her children and give some money to her brother. The winning ticket was purchased at the Quik Chek on East Main Street in Biscoe.

As of Friday afternoon, seven top prizes of $100,000 and many other prizes remain unclaimed in the game.

Ticket sales for games such as instant scratch-offs have enabled the lottery to raise more than $2.58 billion for education initiatives statewide.

source

[Arachno 1D]

Are these lottery ticket winnings not tax free then?

[Nothing Here]

Are these lottery ticket winnings not tax free then?

No. You have to pay taxes on all lottery and even gambling winnings.

[Arachno 1D]

A different situation to the UK then as lottery winners do not pay tax and betting winnings are now tax prepaid as part of the bet whereas before it was optional.

[JaredFrost]

A different situation to the UK then as lottery winners do not pay tax and betting winnings are now tax prepaid as part of the bet whereas before it was optional.

Same in Canada..Almost, all winnings are tax free in Canada.

[*RedBull*]

Yes winnings should be tax free. But then I see how that could easily be misused.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

everything in the US is taxed. you just have to figure that the govt will take 35% of your lottery winnings...

i always wonder - if the lottery raises billions on winnings for state schools, why are the schools always broke?

[spacer]

Gambling winnings are tax free up to $10,000 (at least here in CT). Lottery is always taxed, for any amount, as far as I know.

[Open Minded]

i always wonder - if the lottery raises billions on winnings for state schools, why are the schools always broke?

Because most of the money allocated to schools goes to admin costs and the like. Got to pay the administrators 150k+ per year, ya know.

[Hum]

Are these lottery ticket winnings not tax free then?

State and local tax exempt, in PA.

It's the Federal tax that eats into the prize. :/