Small Town Speculates On Lottery Winner

Mar 2, 2006, 7:09 am (10 comments)

Mega Millions

Facing odds of 176-million-to-one, someone in the Buckeye state bought the winning ticket to Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing, worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars.

That winner bought the ticket in the small town of Lyons, Ohio up in Fulton County. It is a farming community with just one stop light in town.

Fewer than 600 people live there and now everybody's wondering if their neighbor has won $267 million dollars.

The ticket was bought there around noon Tuesday, and all day Wednesday, people were stopping by, asking who the winner might be.

It could be a local, but it could be someone driving through. It could also be someone from Michigan, the borders just a few miles away.

At any rate, the clerks learned they'd sold the winning ticket after an early morning phone call.

"Probably this morning, about ten minutes after I arrived. I thought they were playing a joke on me because nobody usually calls at that time of the morning. And I thought they were joking and I tried to call them back to see if it was a legitimate phone call and by that time they were calling me back again, and it was for real," says one.

It wasn't long after that that a man called the store claiming he's bought the ticket.

WBNS

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Chewie

Sounds like the winner should be able to buy the county, and still have plenty left over to buy a few politicians.

CASH Only

Sounds like the winner should be able to buy the county, and still have plenty left over to buy a few politicians.

Only if they choose cash. If they make the wrong choice, they will more than double the US record for an annuity prize (1993; Powerball did not have a cash option then).

Chewie

When you win $267M dollars, there is no wrong choice.  Your are the winner!  Only one winner.  The decision goes to the winner.  All the schudda, cudda, and wannas don't impress the winner.   Me, when I win, will make what ever decision is best for me.  I will be a winner, therefore I will be the best decision maker about what to do with MY winnings.  Take a vote, how many will think I will care whether your think I should choose cash or annuity?  How many of the past 25 winners cared whether you thought cash or annuity was the best option?  Its good to be a winner, kinda like being King, without the political correctness hassle.

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

i wonder if any powerball winners have decided to become politicians....

CASH Only

i wonder if any powerball winners have decided to become politicians....

A US Senator from New Hampshire won over $800,000 in Powerball in October. He won on a Match 5 Bonus ticket.

Chewie

Ya gotta wonder, where are the security camera's.  Why aren't they being confiscated and viewed by the Lottery Officials?  Where is ABC when we need them?  How can there be leaks when no one is investigating?: 

We want leaks! 

We want leaks!

CASH Only

Suppose the winner(s) is/are from Michigan. Would there be an advantage for a MI resident to winning MM in Ohio, vs Michigan?

Chewie

Suppose the winner(s) is/are from Michigan. Would there be an advantage for a MI resident to winning MM in Ohio, vs Michigan?

Probably not.  If I win MM in JN, no state tax - this year. If I win MM in NY, I pay NY and NJ 8%+!  If I win PB in PA, NJ charges me 8% up front! Then again, I'd change residence in the darkness of night.  I have friends in PA and NY that would let me live with them; and swear that I've lived there for 90 days.  Change licenses Monday, and rich Tuesday - with fewer taxes!  Just because I live in NJ, doesn't mean I have to join the mind dead of the voting populace!

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

Suppose the winner(s) is/are from Michigan. Would there be an advantage for a MI resident to winning MM in Ohio, vs Michigan?

Probably not.  If I win MM in JN, no state tax - this year. If I win MM in NY, I pay NY and NJ 8%+!  If I win PB in PA, NJ charges me 8% up front! Then again, I'd change residence in the darkness of night.  I have friends in PA and NY that would let me live with them; and swear that I've lived there for 90 days.  Change licenses Monday, and rich Tuesday - with fewer taxes!  Just because I live in NJ, doesn't mean I have to join the mind dead of the voting populace!

The top tax bracket in Michigan is 3.9% compared to 7.1% in Ohio, so clearly a Michigan resident gets no benefit from buying in Ohio.  Since they'd owe taxes to both states, an Ohio resident doesn't gain by buying in Michigan, either. I don't think very many people think about taxes before deciding where to buy their tickets, though. I happened to be in southeastern Vermont the Saturday that Powerball was at 365. I could have bought tickets in Vermont, but if I won they'd have taken about 9.5%, so I drove an extra few miles and bought my tickets in New Hampshire, where I wouldn't incur any state income taxes. If I'd won that would have been an advantage of nearly $17 million.

Unfortunately there's no safe way to get around the taxes back home. The laws will vary from one state to another, but for the most part they've figured out all of the angles. Normally you can earn money in one year, wait to collect it until after January 1st and pay the income tax in the year you collect it instead of the year you earn it. Move out of state, however, and the rules usually change. If you win the lottery on December 1st and leave the state before midnight, you earned that money while you were still a resident, regardless of how long you wait to claim it.

Worse still, while you might think that it's your decision to become a resident of a different state, the state may have the ability to make that decision for you. There have been many cases of people who retired to other states, but  because they maintained ties in the original state, courts ruled that  they were still domiciled in the original state.  Things that are easy to change, such as your driver's license or where you get your mail don't count for much, so even if you changed them before winning it might not help. If you still own real property, especially what has been your primary residence, as of the date you win the state is likely to argue that you are still a resident and there's an excellent chance they'd win. The best you could hope for would be to win any court case and get back the taxes you'd already paid. If you don't pay the taxes and then lose it's going to cost a lot more. I doubt that the state worries when your income taxes are average, but for a million bucks or more they might figure it's worth some effort to find out if somebody meets the eligibility rules to pay state income tax. Most people will have left an obvious paper trail as a result of banking and using credit cards to buy gas and groceries. Even if you pay cash for everything your utility bills will demonstrate that somebody was living in your house, and they're going to figure it was you. This is one reason that certain people are foolish when they insist that cash is the only option if you win the lottery. There's no way around the taxes on your income in the year you win the lottery, but deferring 97% of the income until you've legitimately moved out of state might be a good idea.

CASH Only

Suppose the winner(s) is/are from Michigan. Would there be an advantage for a MI resident to winning MM in Ohio, vs Michigan?

Probably not.  If I win MM in JN, no state tax - this year. If I win MM in NY, I pay NY and NJ 8%+!  If I win PB in PA, NJ charges me 8% up front! Then again, I'd change residence in the darkness of night.  I have friends in PA and NY that would let me live with them; and swear that I've lived there for 90 days.  Change licenses Monday, and rich Tuesday - with fewer taxes!  Just because I live in NJ, doesn't mean I have to join the mind dead of the voting populace!

The top tax bracket in Michigan is 3.9% compared to 7.1% in Ohio, so clearly a Michigan resident gets no benefit from buying in Ohio.  Since they'd owe taxes to both states, an Ohio resident doesn't gain by buying in Michigan, either. I don't think very many people think about taxes before deciding where to buy their tickets, though. I happened to be in southeastern Vermont the Saturday that Powerball was at 365. I could have bought tickets in Vermont, but if I won they'd have taken about 9.5%, so I drove an extra few miles and bought my tickets in New Hampshire, where I wouldn't incur any state income taxes. If I'd won that would have been an advantage of nearly $17 million.

Unfortunately there's no safe way to get around the taxes back home. The laws will vary from one state to another, but for the most part they've figured out all of the angles. Normally you can earn money in one year, wait to collect it until after January 1st and pay the income tax in the year you collect it instead of the year you earn it. Move out of state, however, and the rules usually change. If you win the lottery on December 1st and leave the state before midnight, you earned that money while you were still a resident, regardless of how long you wait to claim it.

Worse still, while you might think that it's your decision to become a resident of a different state, the state may have the ability to make that decision for you. There have been many cases of people who retired to other states, but  because they maintained ties in the original state, courts ruled that  they were still domiciled in the original state.  Things that are easy to change, such as your driver's license or where you get your mail don't count for much, so even if you changed them before winning it might not help. If you still own real property, especially what has been your primary residence, as of the date you win the state is likely to argue that you are still a resident and there's an excellent chance they'd win. The best you could hope for would be to win any court case and get back the taxes you'd already paid. If you don't pay the taxes and then lose it's going to cost a lot more. I doubt that the state worries when your income taxes are average, but for a million bucks or more they might figure it's worth some effort to find out if somebody meets the eligibility rules to pay state income tax. Most people will have left an obvious paper trail as a result of banking and using credit cards to buy gas and groceries. Even if you pay cash for everything your utility bills will demonstrate that somebody was living in your house, and they're going to figure it was you. This is one reason that certain people are foolish when they insist that cash is the only option if you win the lottery. There's no way around the taxes on your income in the year you win the lottery, but deferring 97% of the income until you've legitimately moved out of state might be a good idea.

I'm still taking the lump sum. I might die before I move!

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