NY Lottery says it goofed: Mahopac winner got $31 million after taxesPrevious TopicNext Topic

Not at all, I knock the states sites myself all the time!

speaking of taxes. After winning the jackpot is the federal amount deducted a income tax or some kind of luxury tax? Do the bust you with this tax then hit you with an income tax also?
 

Lottery winnings are income, and it's an income tax. Luxury taxes are added to sales or other taxes when you buy something.

There's no question that there are plenty of people making false and misleading claims when they market their goods. How does that absolve anybody else who does it?

Most of the things you mention don't actually violate the rules. For the most part there are no rules against selling gizmos and gadgets, cheap knock-off jewelry, gems and stones .The rules are about the claims made when selling the products. If you pay attention to the claims for many of the other products you cite you may notice that they usually don't actually claim much at all. That some people are too stupid to notice and shell out their money is too bad, but that's all it is.

Think about one of the most heavily advertised products on TV. What does Enzyte do? It's a "natural male enhancement" and that's it. I don't know what's enhanced, but that Bob guy certainly looks happy enough, so maybe that little pill makes him feel better about himself. If so, its more than he was promised. 

Except for federal and state income tax (if there is a state tax) there will be an estate tax if you die and leave over $2 million, which also includes property value.  Also, there are limits to what you can give away without being penalized with a gift tax.  As KY Floyd stated, there is no luxury tax on the prize.

KY FLoyd writes:  Think about one of the most heavily advertised products on TV. What does Enzyte do? It's a "natural male enhancement" and that's it. I don't know what's enhanced, but that Bob guy certainly looks happy enough, so maybe that little pill makes him feel better about himself. If so, its more than he was promised. 

Funny that you should mention that tonight.  I was just watching cable and one of those commercials came on TV.  I started laughing when they said "that certain part of the male body" but never which part. Even the so-called doctor who endorses it uses that expression. I can't imagine going to the doctor and hearing "you have a problem with a certain part of the female anatomy."  Then someone walks up and down a city street stopping people to ask about their experiences with this male enhancement product, as if they just ran into these folks.  They all say "I'm bigger" or it got bigger."  They never say what got bigger.  Maybe he went from a size 10 shoe to a size 12. 

"They all say "I'm bigger" or it got bigger."

If they've got commercials that say that I haven't seen them yet. Even without saying what got bigger, I think they'd be leaving themselves open to having to prove that something will get bigger if you take it. I don't know how effective they are at selling the stuff, but I think the commercials are brilliant in the way they simply use suggestive statements without really saying anything. I'm assuming the only benefit to the product is from whatever placebo effect it might have (which may actually be effective for many cases of impotence, but  I don't imagine it will make anthing bigger, except perhaps your ego or self confidence), but the number of commercials suggest that they have a huge advertising budget.  I can only assume such a budget comes from huge sales.