The courier debate is one of the biggest topics in today’s lottery landscape.
While some of these third-party sellers are attempting to ease the concerns that state lotteries and lawmakers have over the industry, others are just looking to expand their sales reach.
One of the five couriers in the US, theLotter, is promoting its latest partnership with the Philippines.
Last week, theLotter announced that the Asian country can now purchase tickets for US multistate lottery draw games. That includes Mega Millions and Powerball.
Dozens of countries’ lotteries offered by theLotter
While theLotter is somewhat new to the US, it has a longer international history.
It has been in operation for 22 years and touts that it has paid out more than $125 million in lottery winnings from around the globe.
On its website, theLotter promotes international sales of draw games from the US and dozens of other countries. It also offers tickets from the Texas Lottery and Europe’s continent-wide drawings.
That means not only is the Philippines able to play select US lottery games, but so are these other countries.
In the US, theLotter sells tickets for six state lotteries. Those include Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Texas. Most recently, theLotter became the first courier to enter the Florida Lottery market.
Powerball, Mega Millions tickets need to be purchased in US
Mega Millions and Powerball rules don’t dictate that you have to be a US citizen in order to play or win.
All that is required is that the physical ticket must be purchased inside the country.
That’s where theLotter comes in.
The company will take the sale of the customer and then physically purchase the tickets at a US retailer, or a Texas retailer in the case of buying a ticket specific to the Texas Lottery.
Those tickets are then scanned and placed into the account of the international player, giving them verification of the purchase and their number information.
In the event of winning a jackpot or major prize, the purchaser would need to come to the United States to claim their winnings in person.
Non-US citizens taxed more for lottery winnings
Lottery winners in the US know that any prize comes with a hefty tax alongside it.
International winners aren’t excluded from those taxes.
In fact, according to an ABC 10 report through the use of fact-checker VERIFY, the taxes are even greater.
The report indicates that non-US citizens pay about 30% in federal taxes for their winnings. On top of that, they also must pay whatever state taxes are required from where the ticket was purchased.
For a US citizen, the taxes are more around 24% federal to go with the state-based taxes.
Courier-purchased tickets could be voided
It should be noted that the Mega Millions website doesn’t endorse these couriers, and the win could be negated if it’s clear the ticket was purchased through one of these vendors:
“Visitors to the United States are always welcome to purchase tickets for our game from an American lottery retailer while they are visiting this country; you do not need to be a resident or citizen to win. However, Mega Millions tickets are not sold outside the United States. Mega Millions is not affiliated with and does not endorse any company claiming to sell our tickets around the world, online or otherwise. If you choose to do business with one of these companies, you do so at your own risk — it would be up to the lottery that actually sold the ticket here to decide whether that ticket is valid. We add that Mega Millions rules prohibit the purchase of tickets by agents representing players in other jurisdictions.”
Couriers are not under any regulation through the US, or an international body in the case of theLotter. The courier itself details its standing on its website:
“theLotter acts as an independent, third-party lottery ticket purchasing service. We do not operate under the authority of any official lottery body or run a lottery of our own.”
While the tickets purchased do go toward the respective lotteries in the US, theLotter makes its money by charging 30% on ticket purchases by the customer. So, in turn, a customer is paying more for the ticket than they would had they chosen to buy it in person at a retailer.
Those in opposition to couriers point to these independent operations as a big reason why.
The California Lottery has gone out of its way to draw a clear line in the sand for its players. If a ticket is purchased through a courier in California, the state lottery will not acknowledge the win.
Photo by vectorfusionart via Shutterstock
Graphic from theLotter
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