The prizes lottery players see on four new scratch-off tickets will be the prizes they get if they win, officials announced Tuesday.
The top-prize winners on the new “Taxes Paid” tickets will receive their full winnings, and will not have taxes deducted from their checks, according to a release by the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery. The agency is actually increasing the total amount of each prize and then paying the taxes so winners receive the dollar amount written on their tickets, officials said.
Typically, the lottery deducts 24% for federal taxes and 7% for state taxes before awarding winners with their checks.
“With taxes taken out, the amount paid on a $200,000 prize would normally be $138,000,” said Bishop Woosley, Arkansas Scholarship Lottery director. “However, in order to pay top-prize winners the entire amount, we have put $289,855 into the $10 ticket top prize to cover the taxes.”
The four tickets include a $10 ticket offering a top prize of $200,000, a $5 ticket with a top prize of $100,000, a $2 ticket with a top prize of $20,000 and a $1 ticket with a top prize of $5,000.