Online lottery sales not approved by Massachusetts lawmakers

Aug 2, 2016, 3:40 pm (33 comments)

Massachusetts Lottery

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Massachusetts lottery players are going to have to wait a little bit longer if they want to buy lottery tickets online.

In their most recent economic development bill passed Sunday, Massachusetts legislators chose not to authorize the state lottery to begin online gaming.

Lawmakers said that they wanted to address other priorities. Those included $500 million in funding for MassWorks infrastructure, and $45 million for new equipment in career and technical education. A new tax deduction to help families save to pay for college was also in the bill.

Lottery player Lydia Oram of Northampton said that she would not be interested in buying lottery tickets online. "Putting it online would make it too easy, and a temptation to have it accessible and do it as a regular thing. For me, I would rather not have that be an option," Oram said.

That setback aside, it was another record-setting year for the Massachusetts State Lottery. The lottery made about $5.2 billion for the fiscal year ending June 30. That is $217 million more than in the previous year.

WWLP, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

LiveInGreenBay's avatarLiveInGreenBay

The MA lottery made 5.2 billion dollars in one year?  Wow.

TheMeatman2005's avatarTheMeatman2005

Quote: Originally posted by LiveInGreenBay on Aug 2, 2016

The MA lottery made 5.2 billion dollars in one year?  Wow.

That's a nice profit.

LiveInGreenBay's avatarLiveInGreenBay

Yea Meatman...That's a lot of lottery players not winning squat.  LOL

THRIFTY's avatarTHRIFTY

LOTTERY PLAYERS CHANCES OF DYING ARE HIGHER BY GOING TO LOTTERY RETAILERS TO PLAY THE LOTTERY.

 

PLAYING THE LOTTERY ONLINE IS LESS RISKY.

 

Green laughGreen laughGreen laugh

LiveInGreenBay's avatarLiveInGreenBay

Quote: Originally posted by THRIFTY on Aug 2, 2016

LOTTERY PLAYERS CHANCES OF DYING ARE HIGHER BY GOING TO LOTTERY RETAILERS TO PLAY THE LOTTERY.

 

PLAYING THE LOTTERY ONLINE IS LESS RISKY.

 

Green laughGreen laughGreen laugh

That's true THRIFTY but consider this...Say over the course of a year you won on 6 or even 10 $500.00 tickets.  If you bought them at retailers there would be no record and no tax owed (unless you were stupid and declared it as income).  However; if you went online and bought those same low-tier winners, the IRS would automatically have a record of those wins.  And at the end of the year you would owe the IRS tax on those earnings. 

I see where this crap is eventually going.  In the near future, all lottery tickets will be sold online through smart phones or whatever.  There will be a record of all those winnings.  If it comes to that, I'm done.

THRIFTY's avatarTHRIFTY

Quote: Originally posted by LiveInGreenBay on Aug 2, 2016

That's true THRIFTY but consider this...Say over the course of a year you won on 6 or even 10 $500.00 tickets.  If you bought them at retailers there would be no record and no tax owed (unless you were stupid and declared it as income).  However; if you went online and bought those same low-tier winners, the IRS would automatically have a record of those wins.  And at the end of the year you would owe the IRS tax on those earnings. 

I see where this crap is eventually going.  In the near future, all lottery tickets will be sold online through smart phones or whatever.  There will be a record of all those winnings.  If it comes to that, I'm done.

I thought that prizes up to $600 were not taxable income?

LiveInGreenBay's avatarLiveInGreenBay

Quote: Originally posted by THRIFTY on Aug 2, 2016

I thought that prizes up to $600 were not taxable income?

They aren't but if you add a bunch of small wins together over a year, they equal a big win according to the dreaded IRS.

THRIFTY's avatarTHRIFTY

Quote: Originally posted by LiveInGreenBay on Aug 2, 2016

They aren't but if you add a bunch of small wins together over a year, they equal a big win according to the dreaded IRS.

I WILL NOT BE BUYING LOTTERY TICKETS THROUGH ONLINE SUSCRIPTIONS, OR BUYING LOTTERY TICKETS INSTANTLY ONLINE UNLESS IT IS TAX FREE.

music*'s avatarmusic*

Quote: Originally posted by THRIFTY on Aug 2, 2016

LOTTERY PLAYERS CHANCES OF DYING ARE HIGHER BY GOING TO LOTTERY RETAILERS TO PLAY THE LOTTERY.

 

PLAYING THE LOTTERY ONLINE IS LESS RISKY.

 

Green laughGreen laughGreen laugh

I Agree! Thrifty you have the safety issue on the mark.  I hope California goes online.Dance

THRIFTY's avatarTHRIFTY

Quote: Originally posted by music* on Aug 2, 2016

I Agree! Thrifty you have the safety issue on the mark.  I hope California goes online.Dance

Lottery winnings are all TAXABLE, when you buy lottery tickets through the Internet, including lottery Subscriptions.

 

LOTTERY PRIZES ( WINNINGS)SHOULD BE TAX FREE, SINCE WE ARE PLAYING WITH AFTER TAX MONEY.

Kingofearth's avatarKingofearth

Quote: Originally posted by LiveInGreenBay on Aug 2, 2016

That's true THRIFTY but consider this...Say over the course of a year you won on 6 or even 10 $500.00 tickets.  If you bought them at retailers there would be no record and no tax owed (unless you were stupid and declared it as income).  However; if you went online and bought those same low-tier winners, the IRS would automatically have a record of those wins.  And at the end of the year you would owe the IRS tax on those earnings. 

I see where this crap is eventually going.  In the near future, all lottery tickets will be sold online through smart phones or whatever.  There will be a record of all those winnings.  If it comes to that, I'm done.

There is a record and taxes are still owed. When you hand the ticket to the retailer, it gets verified and recorded. If you manage to win that many hits, the IRS will come looking for its cut and you'll see the bad side of a pair of handcuffs. We can't even use a credit card here in NY to buy a ticket,you really think the NY lottery is gonna digitize anything in the near future?

Kingofearth's avatarKingofearth

Quote: Originally posted by THRIFTY on Aug 2, 2016

I thought that prizes up to $600 were not taxable income?

They are, it's just that under $5,000 is too small for the IRS to care enough (600-4,999 is only withheld if you have outstanding debts like child support in most states and federally) to impose a witholding on it. You must include it though on your tax returns as gambling income, especially if it is a significant amount.

Kingofearth's avatarKingofearth

Quote: Originally posted by THRIFTY on Aug 2, 2016

Lottery winnings are all TAXABLE, when you buy lottery tickets through the Internet, including lottery Subscriptions.

 

LOTTERY PRIZES ( WINNINGS)SHOULD BE TAX FREE, SINCE WE ARE PLAYING WITH AFTER TAX MONEY.

An Emergency room doctor saves your life - His income is taxed

A firefighter rescues you from a burning house -his income is taxed

A military veteran is assigned to a base in Afghanistan- her income is taxed

You spend two seconds and $1 to buy a ticket while shopping -Your winnings should be tax free?

THRIFTY's avatarTHRIFTY

Quote: Originally posted by Kingofearth on Aug 2, 2016

An Emergency room doctor saves your life - His income is taxed

A firefighter rescues you from a burning house -his income is taxed

A military veteran is assigned to a base in Afghanistan- her income is taxed

You spend two seconds and $1 to buy a ticket while shopping -Your winnings should be tax free?

PLAYING THE LOTTERY IS A VOLUNTARY TAX. I QUIT PLAYING THE LOTTERY. I AM SAVING MY MONEY.

 

Green laughGreen laughGreen laugh

Subscribe to this news story