The El Niño lottery draw once again leaves the entire country attentive to the lucky numbers that come out of the drum, with the eternal hope that the tenth that one holds in their hands will have a prize. The Treasury is also very attentive this Saturday, since taxes are paid for the most important prizes.
The Children's prizes have a lower fiscal impact compared to the Christmas lottery, since there are only two prizes with obligations to the treasury, compared to the three from the draw on December 22. In total, El Niño distributes 770 million euros in prizes.
The first prize of the El Niño lottery is endowed with 200,000 euros per tenth, half of the Christmas jackpot. By law, the first 40,000 euros are exempt from paying taxes, a figure that has increased in recent years. In this way, the remaining 160,000 euros of the first prize are taxed at 20%, so 32,000 euros are paid in taxes. Net, 168,000 euros remain.
The second prize of the Lotería del Niño amounts to 75,000 euros per tenth. As the first 40,000 euros are exempt, taxes are paid on the remaining 35,000. Specifically, 20% represents 7,000 euros. Thus, the prize remains at 68,000 euros net after subtracting taxes.
The rest of the prizes are not taxable. It happens with the third prize of 25,000 euros and other amounts for extractions and approaches (no matter which one) or refunds, of 20 euros.
The prize is delivered with the withholding already made, it is collected cleanly and has no impact on the initial income tax return: only the returns generated with the money obtained, such as bank interest on a deposit, are added to the return.
In Gestha, a union of Treasury technicians, they criticize that gambling has a tax exemption up to 40,000 euros and the same does not happen with other figures such as unemployment benefits. "It doesn't make sense," he says. According to Gestha calculations, the treasury will receive a total of 21.5 million from the draw.
From the National Group of Provincial Associations of Lottery Administrators (Anapal) they point out that the one that spends the most in this draw is the Valencian Community, with about 126 million euros, followed by Andalusia (123 million), Madrid (116 million) and Catalonia (100 million). The highest average expenditure per person is recorded in Soria (60.98 euros), Palencia (34.15 euros) and Burgos (33.81 euros).
To avoid unexpected tax bills, in the event that a tenth is shared and one of the most important prizes is won, it is necessary to avoid a single person collecting it and then distributing it. This simple gesture could be considered a donation and have high tax rates.
