Games
The Virginia Lottery gives top-prize winners of certain games a choice of cash or annuity. Installment winners receive: 26 equal yearly payments in Mega Millions, 30 yearly payments of $250,000 in Decades of Dollars, or 30 graduated payments in Powerball. (Virginia Lottery winners have a 60-day period to choose cash or annuity in the above three draw games.) When a Virginia Lottery top-prize winner of Powerball, Mega Millions, or Decades of Dollars is claimed, the Lottery purchases sufficient US Government bonds to cover the prize. If the cash option is chosen, the winner receives two payments; the first when the claim is made, and the second after the Lottery sells the US government bonds that were purchased to invest the prize proceeds. The actual cash payment depends on the market value of the bonds on the date they are sold. As winnings from gambling are considered an income, federal laws require the Lottery to withhold Federal Income Tax on all prizes (whether lump sum or annuity) over $5,000.
Virginia Lottery sales are conducted by licensed businesses which receive a commission. Credit cards cannot be used to purchase Lottery tickets. The Lottery offers a subscription service for Mega Millions and Win for Life (Decades of Dollars and Powerball subscriptions not yet available in Virginia) by automatic withdrawals from the subscriber's checking account.
Read more about this topic: Virginia State Lottery
Famous quotes containing the word games:
“In the past, it seemed to make sense for a sportswriter on sabbatical from the playpen to attend the quadrennial hawgkilling when Presidential candidates are chosen, to observe and report upon politicians at play. After all, national conventions are games of a sort, and sports offers few spectacles richer in low comedy.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)
“Criticism occupies the lowest place in the literary hierarchy: as regards form, almost always; and as regards moral value, incontestably. It comes after rhyming games and acrostics, which at least require a certain inventiveness.”
—Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880)
“The rules of drinking games are taken more serious than the rules of war.”
—Chinese proverb.