What to do if you win the lottery?

If you turn out to be one of those lucky On December 22, when the International Day of Illusion is celebrated, and you win the lottery, it is very important not to lose control and not start wasting the prize to which you have been credited senseless.

Millions of Spanish citizens live with the hope of winning the Lottery Jackpot with a total of 4 million euros. The reality of things is that 100% of those promised 4 million are not received, at most you can receive 3,2 million euros, as well as the main aspects that they have to manage at the legal level to obtain the Christmas Lottery prize you can find them in this text.

What is the best time to collect the Prize?

Any of the prizes that the lottery awards, can be collected up to three months after being drawn. This spontaneous source of income must be declared before the Treasury. The jackpot does not enter into taxation as profit or equity income in the income tax base, but it does Declare it before the Treasury so that your award is taxed at the fixed rate of 20%.

In the case of individuals, the lottery prize, It will appear in the Income Statement as a right to collection that was acquired on December 22 of the luckiest year of your life, but it will not appear as profit.

Financial experts recommend that no financial operations are carried out during those last days of the year, You may want to buy Christmas gifts, but it will not be a good idea, since they can produce returns that may affect the Income and Equity declaration for the current year.

Otherwise when the jackpot is won by a company. In these cases specifically, the Prize must be declared as profit before the Corporation Tax, in addition to having to pay the 20% withholding that corresponds to it.

Where to collect the Prize?

If what you won in the lottery, was from € 2.500 downwards, they can be collected from the day after the draw is fought, that is, on December 23 at any point of sale that belongs to the Administration of State Lotteries and Gambling.

In all cases that the award exceed the amount of € 2.500 It will be necessary to go to the financial entities that State Lotteries and Betting qualify for such procedures, these are: BBVA, BMN (Caja Murcia), Banco Popular, BBK (Kutxabank), Caixa Bank, BSCH, Catalunya Banc, Ibercaja Banco (Ibercaja), Municipal Savings Bank of Burgos (Banca Cívica) among many others that you can consult on the LAE website.

In the event that you have won the prize through participation, you cannot go to any of the authorized windows, but you must go directly to the issuer of the participation and claim the amount played. Remember that these surcharges are not taxed as part of the prize.

How much do I have to pay to the Treasury if I have won a prize?

The General State Budgets had multiple changes in the measures they took to pay taxes, with which the State Lottery Prizes had to start paying taxes to benefit the state, like the Red Cross and the ONCE since 2013.

For this reason the grand prizes are not collected in full. Although prizes less than € 2.500 will not be taxed. It is from 2500 when The Treasury applies a 20% retention for every tenth that you win in the Lottery. Consequently, if we go to any bank to collect our tenth, we will collect the premium tax-free, deceptively, since they are previously added.

If the lucky winner does not reside in Spain, you will have to pay the withholding at the time of receiving the award in the country you are in, the Tax Agency clarifies that you can later request the refund in order to avoid international double taxation.

What to do if my prize is shared?

First, it must be considered that the awarding of the prize will be delivered solely and exclusively to the holder of the tenth. If you decide buy the tenth with your family, Your co-workers, your girlfriend, your colleagues, or whoever it is, you have to accredit yourself before the draw with a photocopy of the tenth, name and signature of the participants or buyers in collaboration, as well as the amount that each one plays to avoid inconveniences distribution of the award. Some winners have occasionally forgotten that they played a shared tenth and their friendship was wiped out by greed.

The Treasury recognizes only those tenths of the Lottery, so it is the depositary of the tenth that will collect the prize at an Administration window or a Banking Entity that I have already mentioned. Either of the two forms will apply the corresponding tax withholding. The net prize after this tax is what must be shared among the lucky ones. Even if your part of the prize is less than € 2.500 you will have to pay the proportional part of taxes that you have, so, it is not all happiness in these cases.

When collecting the prize, it is very important accredit to the Tax Administration all the recipients of the award so that they have a right to collection. In the hypothetical case that one of the parties does not recognize that the prize is shared, a trial is necessary to resolve any conflict.

What do I do if I don't know the whereabouts of my tenth?

If you are a lucky winner of some prize, but you have lost the tenth or it was in those pants that you put in the washing machine, you do not have to worry, there is still a chance to collect the prize without any problem. But you have to do what is indicated, the first thing is to take some Lottery Administration the document so that they can certify it there. Lotteries gives you a receipt of the delivery of the tenth and forwards it to the Casa de la Moneda so that it can be verified. If they finally confirm that you bought the tenth, you will be awarded your prize.

In the event that you have lost it, there is also an opportunity to collect your prize. But you have to prepare irrevocable evidence to prove that the tenth belongs to you. If you lose it or if it is stolen, you have to report it before the raffle takes place, at a police station providing all the details and evidence you have regarding the situation. The next thing you have to do is notify this event to the Legal Department of State Lotteries and send a copy of the report that you previously made.

In the event that it deals with large prizes, you will have to go to a court to request there a court order with which the payment of the prize to a third party. If the prize is € 2.500 or less, since it can be collected in any administration and many sites without so much control, there is a high probability that what you won will be extracted by someone else, but if not, the biggest prizes are more protected against this type of fraud or theft.

A lottery ticket is stolen you must go to the police station with as much data as possible. The number, the series of the ticket among other information. State Lotteries will request a copy of the complaint previously made at the commissary, to immediately stop the payment of the tenth with a court order and the total amount of the prize will not be paid until the procedure deduces the true winner.

There are several aspects that you have to consider if you have been the lucky winner of a State lottery prize, below are some of the most important aspects to take into account.

Do the tenths have an expiration date?

State lottery and betting administrations, You must grant three months of term to be able to collect a tenth that has been drawn. The ticket expires after exactly that period of time and the money that you could have earned goes directly to the Treasury's pocket, as if they needed it.

What to do if you acquire a false tenth?

If you have been cheated and someone has sold you an apocryphal tenth, you should file a report immediately. In addition, you must inform the State Lotteries and Betting, which will take the corresponding measures to find the culprit.

Fights between acquaintances for the award

One of the most common conflicts, occurring between winners of the grand prizes, It occurs when one of the parties to a conventional marriage collects the tenth on their own and does not share the prize with their spouse. In case of being married in profit, the prize must be distributed in equal parts, if it is for separate goods it can be charged individually but it still generates annoyance if the ticket has been bought by both.

In case you have bought the tenth with family or friends, the tenth must be photocopied and signed by each of the participants of the same to avoid conflicts, as well as go collect it all together so that it is not a donation, but a distribution of the good , in the most legal way.