It looks like he played $5.00 on each ticket and won $25,000.00 for each one, nice call.
Should have asked for 100 $1 tickets. Then maybe there would not have been any withholdings.
If it's similar to WI, a P4 straight for $1 gets you $5,000. And anything in the way of a prize that excedes $599 requires you to go to the Lottery Office to collect; no retailer will cash it. Therefore, even one straight P4 ticket cannot escape having taxes deducted from it.
A win of exactly $5000 is NOT subject to federal withholding. A few states do withhold at $600.
We've had this discussion before, but for you "newbies", I'll reiterate:
Winnings of $600-$5000 ARE NOT subject to withholding when you go to claim your prize, however, some states still do it. If you win $5000 on a single ticket, you should be asked whether or not you want taxes taken out, as you have that option. The same applies for anything over $600. They should ask you whether or not you want taxes taken out - they SHOULD NOT do it automatically. If you have 20 tickets at $5/piece winning $25,000 each, then since all plays on that ticket are combined into a "single play", the ENTIRE PRIZE on that ticket IS SUBJECT TO WITHHOLDING at a mandatory 25% level (in this case, ALL 20 TICKETS are subject to withholding). I'm not sure though if the states that impose taxes on winnings take out state taxes. I don't see why they wouldn't.
Hope this clears the air.
Kris
