r/memes • • 20h ago

The lotto is stupid enough. Stop screwing people over.

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u/Andromeda_53 12h ago

UK lottery tickers aren't taxed either.

The lottery company pays a tax to the government and so the lottery winnings amount is in ratio to the ticket price. Lottery tickets in the UK range from £1-£5

You tax the winnings instead I guarantee you lottery tickets will still cost £1

The only thing the gamblers lose is if they hit the astronomically low chance of winning is the amount they get.

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u/Captain_Gordito 11h ago

In Canada the winnings are "windfalls" and not taxed, but you can still take a cut of money up front or an annuity, depending on the game.

Provinces and regions run the lotteries as Crown Corporations, and the math means that they run a profit off the lotto. That gets brought back into government programs and such. There are even lotteries for hospitals and other healthcare things. There are also 50/50 draws at sports games and such.

In essence, each ticket is voluntary tax that you pay to buy a ticket and imagine winning.

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u/Cat_with_pew-pew_gun Dark Mode Elitist 12h ago

So it's the same system the U S just advertises a bigger number.

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u/animatorgeek 7h ago

I think that's exactly it. It's all about advertising/publicity. More people are going to buy tickets for a million dollar lottery than a $500k lottery, though the million dollar one might be worth less than the $500k one, if the $1M one is deferred and taxed while the $500k one is up front and untaxed.

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u/Andromeda_53 12h ago

Yes which Is just disingenuous. Iirc even in shops the price is before tax. Why

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u/Cat_with_pew-pew_gun Dark Mode Elitist 12h ago

We learn its like that at a young age and it would just be a massive annoying undertaking to change what is a non issue. Same with the imperial system vs metric system.

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u/Andromeda_53 10h ago

Yeah I get that, it's one of those. What you're used to is the way that makes sense sorta thing. But from an outside perspective it just seems strange.

But yeah like you said it's the same with all things, F vs C "this feels right" vs "those numbers make no sense" or inches vs cm etc.

Only place I think it would be worth putting the effort in to switch would be here in the UK. Coz it's a mess, we use roads in mph, height in feet inches or cm depending who u ask, weight changes based on context, someone will say they way kg or stone, And measurement changes based on craft. Dicks are done in inches.

Distance depends on person and context, a drive is 10 miles, but the shops is just 500 metres away.