Who Owns that Lottery Ticket? Let’s Clarify!

Who Owns that Lottery Ticket?

Doubts about the Lottery Ticket You’ve Asked the Lotto Exposed Team

There has been a lot of chatter on who owns lottery tickets purchased online through a provider. The team dug into this subject both from the perspective of the act of buying and what legal protection is available for winnings. It would be pretty frustrating to win and yes, the provider takes the money and runs.

No International Global Laws

The first thing that is important to know is there is no international global law that governs playing online lotteries. It’s a combination of the rules and regulations of the actual lottery being played and where the online provider is registered. For the lotteries themselves, most publish whether anyone can play or outline the restrictions. When the online playing of lotteries first started, this wasn’t clear. Many lotteries didn’t appreciate how popular some of their games would become internationally. This has been resolved in most cases with clarification by the lottery itself. In many cases, it is underlined with a different tax threshold applied to non-residents.

Are winnings taxed at WinTrillions?

Governing Authorities

Most “Terms and Conditions” outline what governing authorities are involved, where they are registered, and the jurisdiction of any disputes. This is part of making sure they are in fact a legal entity. Many countries now have an internet department involved in their policing that does check many of these out and/or where you can file an inquiry or complaint.

Any purchase of a lottery ticket through an online provider is governed by its “Terms and Conditions” which you accept in entering the contract to purchase. Most terms and conditions outline that the agent is acting as a messenger service. How they may or may not collect your winnings for you depends on the actual lottery.

What Happens When I Win?

Tax-free lotteries are straightforward with the agent able to collect your winnings on your behalf. They are simply acting as a messenger service. That’s one of the reasons it is important to be confident that you are playing through a reliable service. Take Canada’s 649, where they clearly outline how people from the US can win.

When it comes to lotteries that are required to deduct a tax, it’s a bit more complicated. US lotteries in particular have a threshold that incurs tax at US$ 600. Wintrillions says it pretty clearly:

“Any prize won above this level is handled on a case-by-case basis according to the rules of the individual lottery or raffle. Where possible, WinTrillions claims the prize money on your behalf, however, if you prefer to handle your own claim or local rules prevent us from doing so, then we help to facilitate your winning claim by transferring the ticket to you and helping you to claim your prize.”

And if you’re still not sure if you’ve going to get your money, take a look at the Iraqi guy last December who won the $6.4 million Oregon Megabucks jackpot playing through TheLotter! That was a nice win! Then there is the guy from the UK that won $1 million in April 2012 on US Powerball playing online through yes – TheLotter.com!

Syndicates and Winning

Syndicates are usually handled by the granting of a power of attorney to the person who will collect the winnings on behalf of the group – in most cases, the local agent who purchased the ticket. If tax is applicable, it comes off the top. It’s the same thing as if you did a personal group syndicate and nominated one of the individuals to act on behalf of the group.

Betting and Winning

Collecting winnings, especially any mega jackpot is a little different when players are betting on lotteries through an online provider versus one that actually buys your tickets. What is important here is to clarify who they are insured with. That’s how they protect themselves to be able to pay out large wins. If it is not clearly stated on their site, ask the question!

Ultimately, it’s Who You Play Through

The bottom line here is being confident of who you play through. A good online lottery provider clearly outlines that they are simply a messenger service that is acting on your behalf. They have clear terms and conditions that set out the contractual relationship between you, the purchaser, and the messenger service acting as your agent.

Also remember, the Lotto Exposed Team is here to review and make recommendations – we aren’t responsible for individual lottery providers and what they do or do not do.

Have fun playing!

  1. Nice article and very useful. Think this questions are the ones people are frequently asking when playing online…

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