You will not receive the full $1,000. California will withhold taxes. The California lottery website states that "all prizes of $600 or more are subject to Federal income taxes and other offsets required by law. However, there are no California state or local taxes.
If you are not a U.S. citizen or a resident alien, the Lottery is required by federal tax law to withhold additional taxes from your prize. The Lottery is required to withhold federal taxes of 25% for U.S. citizens and resident aliens providing a social security number, and 28% for U.S. citizens and resident aliens not providing a social security number. Players who select "I am NOT a U.S. Citizen and I am NOT a Resident Alien" box will have 30% withheld from all prizes. Federal tax rates are subject to change."
You will Submit a Claim Form to collect your winnings. Click this link Claiming Prizes and scroll down to Scratcher Games $600 and Over. Follow the instructions to claim your winnings.
If you itemize your taxes, you can deduct gambling losses up to gambling winnings. See this TurboTax article Can You Claim Gambling Losses On Your Taxes? for more information.
You WILL get a check for $1000. I know because I just got one. They send you a form at the end of the year, and you are responsible for noting it in your taxes.
Same with $2000. Got one of those in Jan. In fact, the rep at the Lotto office in San Diego said anything up to $4999 gets the full amount. Above that, they subtract it from your check.
Congrats on the win!
that is incorrect about them withholding it. I won $1000 once on a scratcher and I just had to mail the scratcher to the lottery
commissioner and I received a check for $1000 in about a month.
Have you already received the proceeds? Did you receive the full $1,000 or something less after state and/or Federal taxes were withheld?
You will likely receive a form W2-G in the mail reporting this income to your state and to the IRS.
It will show whether state or Federal taxes were withheld.
The form is here.
I received the full $1,000 and they did not pay it at the time I turned the ticket in. It was about 4 or 5 weeks when I received the full $1000 in the mail. They did not withhold anything from the $1,000.
It sounds like the W2-G will be for $1,000 and no taxes were withheld.
Hope you have a record of losses to claim against the winnings.
Congratulations!
If I have a Ca scratcher winner for 2000 and lost my I I'd how would I be able to cash my ticket in
We don't know. This is a tax user forum. You would have to call or ask the CA Lottery. Maybe it says how on their website
@Baybay69 We answer questions about income tax and TurboTax software here, Your question is not about taxes. Look into replacing your ID--for many reasons aside from the winning ticket.
@Baybay69 wrote:
If I have a Ca scratcher winner for 2000 and lost my I I'd how would I be able to cash my ticket in
Turbotax is not the state lottery, please contact them for more information.
I have won 1,000$ about 6 times and have always recieved the full $1,000 . At the end of the year you receive a 1099 or something like that and add it to other income .
You will receive the full 1000 when you get your check and it will have a w-2 attached for you to file when you do your taxes. I won a 1000 and that's how I know. I hit 2500.00 day before Christmas but I have to wait til they reopen there offices to the public.
California state lottery is commiting fraud. They do not honor a winning scratcher over $599 within the 6 to 8 week period,they now claim 10 to 12 weeks. I know this because I have waited 8 weeks for a $1,000 check in the mail and I have made numerous attempts to contact the office and been told 10 to 12 weeks.
The CA State Lottery, like most businesses, has been affected by COVID-19 and this can account for delays I know the U.S. Postal Service is also experiencing delays.. Keep checking with the Lottery office if you don't receive the check within the timeframe they specify.
@Jnapkins, Have you received your check yet? I mailed my $1,000 winning ticket Jan. 19th & still waiting for it.
This website states:
California does not tax lottery winnings. The winner has to be a California state resident to qualify for this exception. If you're not a California state resident but bought your winning ticket while vacationing in California, you’ll be subject to your home state’s tax laws.
The California Lottery will still withhold 24 percent of your winnings to pay federal taxes if you’re a U.S. citizen or resident alien, and 30 percent if you’re not. The California lottery taxes Scratcher winnings the same way if they're $600 or more.
The California Lottery will mail you an IRS Form W-2G, Certain Gambling Winnings, by Jan. 31, the year after you won the lottery. This form shows the amount of your winnings like a W-2 shows the amount of your earnings. Also like a W-2, you submit the W-2G to the IRS with your tax return. You should also keep a copy for your records.
I WON 1000 ON A $20 SCRATCHER AND MAILED IT ON JAN 15TH AND YES IM STILL WAITING AS WELL....
Usually what happens is that income tax will not be withheld and you are responsible for it when you receive the tax form next year that reports the earnings. With this said though, it is at the discretion of the issuer whether to withhold or not.
Ok so here is a late answer just figured I'd share. If you read the fine print on the lottery website it explains that you can bring in the equal amount of your win in NON winning tickets (so you win $1000.00 gather up $1000.00 in non winners in any denomination as long as they equal your win!) and that it is basically like giving them the same amount of cash you are about to recieve and therefore you will not be taxed then nor at the end of the year. Basically it shows that you paid that amount into the lottery so basically the non winning tickets are traded for the cash in a way. Same thing as having the win written off on your taxes at the end of the year. Only this way it isn't even reported as a win because it's now an even trade (I'm guessing) Not sure how to explain it I just know it's on the website 4 sure! Good luck everyone!
@Heatherly123 It is nice that you tried to be helpful, but gambling losses do not work the way you seem to think they do, so your suggestion that the losing tickets somehow "wash away" the winnings is not correct. We do not want users to read this and think that would be the result of entering their losing tickets. It is MUCH harder to claim enough losses to have any effect at all on your tax due or refund.
https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/how-do-i-claim-my-gambling-winnings-and-or-losses
Gambling winnings are taxable income. Losses are an itemized deduction. If you do not have enough itemized deductions to exceed your standard deduction, your losses will have no effect.
https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/income-and-investments/how-are-gambling-winnings-taxed-8891/
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900352-can-i-deduct-my-gambling-losses
2020 Standard Deduction Amounts
Single $12,400 (+ $1650 65 or older)
Married Filing Separate $12,400 (+ $1300 if 65 or older)
Married Filing Jointly $24,800 (+ $1300 for each spouse 65 or older)
Head of Household $18,650 (+ $1650 for 65 or older)