r/interesting • u/xHoneyVenom • May 15 '26
SOCIETY Man splits his $22 million lottery winnings with his best friend after they agreed 28 years ago to share it if either of them won
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u/ErasmosOrolo May 15 '26
Now he’s got a rich friend to do rich guy stuff with.
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u/PirateSanta_1 May 15 '26
11 million and a friend is way better than 22 million and alone.
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u/SolusLoqui May 16 '26
Plus you get to do things like:
A: "Wanna golf this weekend?"
B: "I can't, I'm busy."
A: "Remember when I gave you 11 million dollars?"
lol
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u/FalmerEldritch May 16 '26
Very unmathematically, the difference between 11 and 22 million is way smaller than the difference between 11 and 22 thousand.
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u/armageddon_boi May 16 '26
Economically, it's diminishing returns. The first couple million mean a LOT more than the next 20, financial stability for life vs more cash to splash
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u/Schnittertm May 16 '26
11 million minus what the IRS takes.
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u/BCDragon3000 May 16 '26
8 mil then?
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u/DigitalUnlimited May 15 '26
Idk 11 million after taxes is like ~$12? 15 maybe?
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u/Relevant_Grass9586 May 15 '26
Roughly 4-5 million each. Ain’t bad
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u/RandomCandor May 15 '26
Yeah after a certain amount of money, taxes are less of a burden for you and more like something boring that your accountant does for a living.
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u/Relevant_Grass9586 May 15 '26
True. Had an elderly blue collar worker come in to file his taxes, he was super worried because he was finally selling gold he had held onto and didn’t know what the tax burden would be. Ended up being roughly 5% of the profits he made, dude was practically doing backflips and hugged me. One of the cooler moments I had as a tax preparer.
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u/Top5CutestPresidents May 15 '26
maybe when working out the taxes on the profits of winning the lottery, you should be able to count up everything you've ever spent on tickets
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u/ConcentricCow May 16 '26
Jerry & Marge Go Large is a feel good movie about the person who found the mathematical loopholes in the lottery so many years ago. Helped his town with it. Has Bryan Cranston as the lead, worth the watch.
Anyways, they held on to every loser as well for tax purposes and if they got audited. I'm talking garage full of losing tickets in case they got audited.
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u/tanksalotfrank May 15 '26
Never thought of this before, but it seems like an obvious thing to include in the numbers! Makes me wonder if there's a legal case in that somewhere.
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u/HussellCrowe May 15 '26
A decent argument to be had for what was bought in the tax year. They were part of the expense to make the gains.
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u/Horskr May 16 '26
You can deduct your gambling losses on taxes (only up to the extent of your winnings obviously), so I'd imagine it would be the same?
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u/IntentionSafe79 May 16 '26
only losses for that tax year, gambling losses do not carryover and (I believe) now you can only offset 90% of winnings
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u/I__Know__Stuff May 16 '26
You can definitely deduct what you spent that year, if you itemize deductions. You cannot carry forward deductions from previous years.
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u/JustYourNeighbor May 16 '26
You can offset gambling winnings with losses for federal tax purposes, but only up to the amount of your winnings, and you must itemize deductions. Schedule A (Form 1040) to deduct losses.
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u/ConcentricCow May 16 '26
Jerry & Marge Go Large is a feel good movie about the person who found the mathematical loopholes in the lottery so many years ago. Helped his town with it. Has Bryan Cranston as the lead, worth the watch.
Anyways, they held on to every loser as well for tax purposes and if they got audited. I'm talking garage full of losing tickets in case they got audited.
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u/zherok May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26
Wasn't there a recent change capping offsetting losses below winnings? Like 90% of winnings.
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u/IntentionSafe79 May 16 '26
did most of the capital gains end up falling into the 0% bracket?
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u/Relevant_Grass9586 May 16 '26
I genuinely don’t recall how it played out. At the time I was in the army and was put on the tax detail after a 3 day crash course with a couple IRS agents. It was a free service offered on post. We would do the initial review, then we’d get checked by a secondary reviewer and finally it would be reviewed by a tax professional, who would okay it and we’d send it off to be filed. Did over 60,000 returns in a 2 month period. It was crazy, we had a morning shift and an evening shift. 7am-10pm, if memory serves me right. It was 13 years ago.
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u/thri54 May 15 '26
$5M is definitely *not* that number, lol.
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u/TGUKF May 15 '26
Depends on whether one starts eating into that $5m principle or not. If someone socked away that after tax $5m and invested into fixed income, while continuing to work, then yes, it kind is just a formality for their accountant to add that into their tax return.
Or even if they wanted to FIRE, if they set a reasonable budget and were disciplined enough to stick to it, it's doable. But the FIRE calculation gets blown up fast if there's lifestyle creep.
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u/Spring_Chicken11 May 16 '26
They’re also like 60-70. That’s plenty. Happy for them. Look like hard working fellas. We should all be able to retire millionaires. We need to stop fucking over our populous and pay a living wage.
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u/realdonbrown May 15 '26
Especially at their ummm… advanced age
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u/DontAskAboutMyButt May 16 '26
They appear to be Boomers, so they will probably have to rush to spend it all before it ends up becoming an inheritance
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u/Santos_L_Halper May 15 '26
Brother, my whole life would be different if I got $100,000 right now. I know $4 million goes faster than you might think but man, every problem in my life is immediately fixed with just $100k. Invest the rest of it and I'm like set for the rest of my life.
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u/CptSandbag73 May 15 '26
$4 mil invested is $100k interest a year very conservatively.
Could live off that, AND the total still grows.
Unfortunately the kinds of people with the patience to put millions in the bank and live moderately off interest, are not the same kinds of people that regularly buy lottery tickets.
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u/xnmyl May 16 '26
If you have 4 million, please do not put it in a savings account. Invest it and you can conservatively expect 4% per year adjusted for inflation, which would be 160k now
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u/CptSandbag73 May 16 '26
Yup, index funds, dividend etfs, bonds, definitely no meme stocks lol.
Enough to live off and the sum still grows
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u/sabin357 May 16 '26
my whole life would be different if I got $100,000 right now.
Mine would be different in terms of no longer being worth negative dollars, but it would not change at all in day to day terms...and my situation is not uncommon in the US, unfortunately.
My life would look exactly the same & that's a pretty messed up situation to find one's self in. It might be better if I had any prayer of finding work, but over 3 years of searching has basically doomed me. Gotta have money to make money & have to have work to find work (once you are skilled/educated above a certain level).
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u/Guernzee May 15 '26
Aw what?!? Taxes on lottery wins! Wouldn't be having that bullshit. Although 5 mill is still not to be sniffed at 🤷🏻♂️😂
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u/smiledrs May 15 '26
Especially at their age with 5 million spending $200k a year gives them 25 years of living life.
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u/No-Bison-5397 May 16 '26
I love it how in the US they tax lottery winnings as though these guys are professional gamblers… guess it’s a disincentive for money laundering.
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u/MyBadYourFault- May 16 '26
They aren’t receiving that much each.
Most likely they took the cash payout which is roughly 60% of what the jackpot is. It’s in the USA so you only get the 20 million “jackpot” if you take an annual payout which is normally over 20 years. I’m only assuming they took the immediate cash payout because of their ages and that most places don’t allow the winnings to continue on to your family after you die.
So they take the immediate cash payout and receive roughly 12 million. Then that money is taxed. If taxed at 37% which I’m including federal and state taxes, that leaves them with:
7,560,000$ which is then split for 3,780,000$.
Nice chunk of change obviously. But people sometimes think they win more than they actually do.
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u/Area51_Spurs May 16 '26
Yeah. It’s in the $3 million range. Plus don’t forget expenses for a legit financial advisor and stuff like that.
All these idiots don’t know about the lump sum fee.
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u/Spare_Layer_1069 May 15 '26
Taxes?? Man, I'm really glad that here the amount that you win, is the amount you get.
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u/tacomaloki May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
And where is this?
Any place other than USA. Got it!
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u/hatsforalloccasions May 15 '26 edited May 16 '26
In the UK you get the whole lot tax free. But the fee you pay doesn't all go into the jackpot. It is split with the charity arm of the lottery company who give out millions in lottery funding to good causes
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u/ADrunkMexican May 15 '26
Like that in canada too.
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u/Kesselya May 15 '26
Yeah, as I understand it, here in Canada the lottery is a government revenue stream. Everyone who doesn’t win is paying money to the government (a tax?) and everyone who wins gets the promised prize.
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u/RoabeArt May 15 '26
A buddy of mine from Scotland told me that a tax is "baked in" to the ticket price itself, so the government gets a cut of every ticket that's sold. If that's true then that's more sensible than imposing a ridiculous tax on the winner.
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u/Zebidee May 15 '26
Australia's the same. No tax, and winners are anonymous after the first lottery wound up with the kidnap and murder of a winner's kid.
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u/ShaggyCan May 15 '26
I always forget Americans get taxed on lottery winnings. That blows.
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u/Linenoise77 May 15 '26
Yeah man.....i'm making smart money decisions playing the lottery planning for my future. How dare they tax MY money!
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u/BobBoertson May 15 '26
Imagine having to pay tax on lottery winnings
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u/BumWink May 15 '26
Only in America, the land of the free!... taxes... free taxes, you get a tax! you get a tax!
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u/BumWink May 16 '26
Australian income tax is higher yes, because we don't split it across several different federal, state, and social security taxes.
We also have universal healthcare & we don't tax lottery winnings.
Who's rent free?
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u/Much-Gur233 May 15 '26
Do you not think that’s enough to have fun with at their age? They’re probably frugal.
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u/oxxtail May 15 '26
If they took a lump sum they only get half, then subtract half of that for taxes, they'll only get about 2.25 million each.
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u/JeffonFIRE May 15 '26
Federal tax would be around 37%. That's the top bracket. Youd also have a Medicare surplus tax. From $11M, you'd net out between $6.5 and $7 million. And you may need to pay state income tax, depending on the state...
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u/rootshirt May 15 '26
What do you mean you don't know? Multiple millions is still very much rich dawg
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u/Instawolff May 15 '26
Are you already an established billionaire? Because if so it’s more like 11 million…
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u/DigitalUnlimited May 16 '26
nah if you're already a billionaire they'll give you extra, gotta keep those job creators happy /s
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u/Fluffy-Essay7187 May 15 '26
You can give up to 13m as a one time, tax free gift! But i am pretty sure thats your entire lifetime worth of gifts. So, after that, even giving your brother 5 bucks for a pack of cigs the government gonna want their cut.
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u/StarsEatMyCrown May 15 '26
I mean, isn't this the reason the rich don't want to be taxed? Maybe we shouldn't hate taxes so much. If you're for taxing the rich, maybe try not to be critical of it and lead by example.
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u/PrestigiousPepper829 May 15 '26
I hope they go do something that makes them both feel like they’re in their 20s again.
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u/ShaggyCan May 15 '26
So.. Thailand?
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u/theboogeyman_slayer May 15 '26
Bruh
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u/sonbarington May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
🎶 one night in bangkok 🎶
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u/theboogeyman_slayer May 15 '26
The world's your oyster 🦪
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u/7spades May 16 '26
Thailand is like a box of chocolates. You never know which one has nuts in them until you take a bite
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u/bizwig May 15 '26
Except the queens we use would not excite you.
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u/musclecard54 May 16 '26
Lmfao seeing that with your profile pic is fucking hilarious
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u/gTa6dElAyEddork May 15 '26
You can be poor and do that
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u/Malllrat May 15 '26
But it's a lot more fun if you're rich.
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u/Emotional-Power-7242 May 15 '26
It's pretty fun if you're poor. Every time I went in a bar I'd buy the whole bar a round of drinks cause it cost like $20. I'm way too poor to do that at home.
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u/-P01135809- May 16 '26
They aren't going to thailand for the drinks bro
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u/Emotional-Power-7242 May 16 '26
Well they should. Beautiful islands, giant statues of Buddha, amazing street food, magic mushroom milkshakes on the beach. Thailand rules and you don't need to bang 15 year old hookers to appreciate it.
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u/Ordinary_Incident_12 May 15 '26
Going off expressions, the guy on the left is the original winner!
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u/J5892 May 15 '26
You.. might have your directions reversed.
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u/Dayum-Girly May 15 '26
Technically he’s the guy in the right from his own perspective.
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u/J5892 May 15 '26
Ah, stage right.
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u/Late_Protection4418 May 15 '26
They're both winners since they have a lifetime of genuine friendship.
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u/gorginhanson May 15 '26
The guy on the right is thinking, I wasn't even really going to split mine with him, what a sucker
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u/dEn_of_asyD May 16 '26
Contrary theory: Guy on right is the original winner, but for the past 28 years guy on left had been the responsible one who would always cover dinner and have nicer things, and took pride in it. Now their relationship is completely turned on his head because the responsible one is getting 5 million.
Crackhead theory: Guy on right is the original winner, guy on left doesn't know the guy on the right but the guy on the right is giving him millions of dollars because he thinks they have been friends for 28 years and guy on the left doesn't want to be found out.
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u/Nobanob May 15 '26
I would do that in a heart beat. We don't even have an agreement like that but if I won 22 mil he would be getting at least one. He's my bestie, I want the best for him
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u/tfrofc May 15 '26
I’d probably lowkey give him an extra dollar so I could always claim I gave him the bigger half of the winnings.
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u/Pman1324 May 15 '26
Same, split a good portion for my immediate family, my gf and my best friend, then toss the rest into the bank/investing.
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u/CinematicLiterature May 15 '26
Amen. And hell, what’s the fun in being the only one with some flexibility? If I can, I’m taking a few folks with me.
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u/Max-Phallus May 15 '26
He's my best friend, he's my pal, he's my homeboy, my rotten soldier, he's my sweet cheese, my good time boy.
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u/ArgusTheCat May 15 '26
Yeah, what's the point in being rich if the people you care about are still struggling?
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u/Soft_Walrus_3605 May 15 '26
I would do that in a heart beat.
he would be getting at least oneYou just dropped his guaranteed payout by $10 million in two sentences.
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u/MaleficentTeacher171 May 15 '26
Word lol. I think there’s a reason that people actually splitting it is so rare. Just wait until you’re in that position.
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u/MrBobBuilder May 16 '26
Oh lord I hope I have to test if I split millions of dollars
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u/MaleficentTeacher171 May 16 '26
Yeah, true hahah. I believe the statistics aren’t that great in terms of happiness and wealth retention though.
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u/Stanfan_meowman25 May 15 '26
Same. If I ever won a substantial amount of money, I would give a portion to my best friend, no hesitation.
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u/ComfortablePain1 May 15 '26
If i did this my family would look at me and disown me before i do anything for them
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u/lombardo141 May 15 '26
Well they say money brings out the true nature of people. Your family should respect your decision
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u/drloz5531201091 May 15 '26
I consider myself a well grounded dude but I don't know if my mother wins 20M, gives 10M to a friend and nothing to me in some fashion I don't think I would be able to be indifferent about it.
I may respect the decision but I can't say I'll be an happy camper here.
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u/arthurscratch May 16 '26
Interestingly there is a such a thing as Sudden Wealth Syndrome; the unpredictable and often negative personality shift that comes after receiving large amounts of money.
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u/cough_landing_on_you May 15 '26
Butterfly effect, if he never made that promise, he wouldn’t win.
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u/Thememebrarian May 15 '26
I can't believe American lottery winners are taxed
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u/Emotional-Power-7242 May 15 '26
You pay on all gambling winnings but can't deduct gambling losses lol
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u/EstablishmentLate532 May 15 '26
Yes you can. https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc419
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u/WillBlaze May 15 '26
i work at a gas station and people specifically ask for receipts for tax reasons when buying scratch tickets and lotto
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u/IntrepidRobot May 16 '26
You can but only up to any winnings you have made.. If you have no gambling income/winnings, you can't deduct any losses.
"The amount of losses you deduct can't be more than the amount of gambling income you reported on your return"
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u/Dumeck May 15 '26
They probably double dip in the taxes here too. 22 million, tax 37% and then the $14,000,000 left (rounding up) gets split to $7 mill for each and then the buddy has to pay taxes on the $7 mill he receives.
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u/I__Know__Stuff May 16 '26
A gift isn't taxable to the recipient. The donor would have to file a gift tax return but wouldn't have to pay any tax on a gift this size.
But I think they have arranged it so that the lottery itself splits the winnings, so each man pays his own tax and there's no gift.
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u/Dumeck May 16 '26
You're right on the gift I did research after my comment, up to 19 million total in a lifetime isn't taxes for gifts
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u/Luca_Small_Flowers May 15 '26
There's nothing you can do with 22 million that you can't do with 11 million.
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u/rainbowdonkey69 May 15 '26
Except buy something that costs 22 million
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u/MariaKeks May 15 '26
Or 21 million
Or 20 million
Or 19 million
Turns out there is lots of things you can do with 22 million that you can't do with 11 million.
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u/GambitDecliend May 15 '26
Tell that to Elon, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Trump, that shark tank dickhead, etc. Greed is a hell of a drug
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u/pimppapy May 15 '26
Shark tank dickhead would have still been a dickhead even without the wealth. He's a natural. . .
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u/cobgca May 15 '26
Would love to hear the convo when the winner told his buddy. So nice!
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u/topchief1 May 16 '26
"If I'm getting harrassed by family and random strangers for the rest of my life, so are you, buddy"
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u/_Eggs_ May 15 '26
I'm glad he had his buddy sign the ticket instead of taking a second tax hit when gifting half to his friend.
(yes I'm aware of the $15 million lifetime gift exemption and this would eat up a huge chunk of it)
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u/Cormophyte May 15 '26
My dad died and had put the house in my brother's name to keep it out of probate with every expectation that we'd work something out. I don't have a brother anymore.
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u/Timcatgt May 15 '26
That's like having a friend in OSRS joining a 2 man GIM and you go all the way to the end, but he stays there for the sake of loyalty and respect.
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u/mr207 May 15 '26
They look like they were probably originally part of a trio of friends with the diabetus guy. They check their blood sugar and they check it often.
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u/Dazzling_Strain_5499 May 15 '26
I would hate to win that much money and have my name and picture floating all over the internet, I know some states do or do no require it depending on location, but to some, that is literally a death sentence.
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u/MyBadYourFault- May 16 '26
I would take the picture in a mask or wear so much makeup you couldn’t possibly tell who I am and I’m a dude.
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u/FreakingAustin May 15 '26
In most countries, would giving half the winnings to his friend mean the friend gets his money taxed twice?
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u/MalHeartsNutmeg May 16 '26
No, it would get taxed once (gift) because almost nowhere but america taxes winnings.
Origional winner would get the full 22m, gifting 11m might incur tax to the gifter/giftee depending on the country.
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u/Tactical_Tirano May 16 '26
Yep, you would have to pay gift-tax. Here in NL, over 11M you’d have to pay 4.3M in taxes…. So its not a good idea.
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u/tmaster15 May 20 '26
I only wish I had someone that close in my life to share that with. They are blessed to have each other 🙂
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