United States
Member #16,611
June 2, 2005
3,493 Posts
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I'm curious why PB is going to roll up to 310 million instead of 300 million for Wednesday? I hope that PB does roll once again to a new record 365 million this Saturday.
Morrison, IL United States
Member #4,657
May 13, 2004
1,885 Posts
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Twisted, your argument may work in favor of no states taxing lottery winnings, but the US government doesn't receive a dime from state run lotteries other than by taxing the winners of large prizes.
You and I both pay federal income tax on our income right now. We are using our money after paying federal income tax to buy lottery tickets.
We have already paid federal income tax on that money once. Why do we have to pay again?
In my opinion that is double taxation. You might feel differently.
Well, when you invest income you've paid taxes on, you pay taxes on the income that income generates, so it really isn't different if a $1 "investment" produces a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars.
New Jersey United States
Member #2,376
September 25, 2003
582 Posts
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Twisted, your argument may work in favor of no states taxing lottery winnings, but the US government doesn't receive a dime from state run lotteries other than by taxing the winners of large prizes.
You and I both pay federal income tax on our income right now. We are using our money after paying federal income tax to buy lottery tickets.
We have already paid federal income tax on that money once. Why do we have to pay again?
In my opinion that is double taxation. You might feel differently.
Well, when you invest income you've paid taxes on, you pay taxes on the income that income generates, so it really isn't different if a $1 "investment" produces a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars.
I would hardly call it an investment. If I made a major investment today, I dont care what the interest rate is, I should atleast expect 1% back from the investment.
Most people spend their whole life "investing" in the lottery and getting next to nothing in return on that "investment." Ofcourse, there are the lucky few who actually make more than they "invest" in the lottery. Most likely I'm not going to be one of those lucky few. So I might as well call playing the lottery, "paying the lottery" for a chance to dream big.
Uncle Jim said it best, "Who won the damn jackpot? Me or the (collective) government?" It seems the government is the luckiest of us all. Everytime there is a jackpot winner (even a small winner), the government wins too ( I like those odds).
But if I ever win big, I will be more than glad to pay my "fair" share of taxes.