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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
$100 million Powerball win sparks ATO, Centrelink warning for every Aussie: 'Trap'
Australians are being warned about the potential implications of winning the lottery following last night's $100 million Powerball draw. It was the biggest Powerball jackpot of 2025, and one lucky person walked away as the sole jackpot winner. However, there are a few stipulations worth considering as we get close to tax time and how a massive sum of cash like this can affect you. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) had some handy advice. "You don't need to declare your winnings to us, and you won't pay tax on them," the tax office said. RELATED Major lottery warning after Aussie winners reveal what they spent their money on Centrelink cash boost coming from July 1 for millions of Aussies Aussie teen's job paying $300 per hour without a uni degree "But, any interest earned on the winnings will need to be included in your assessable income." If you were the sole winner of the jackpot and had it sitting in a savings account with a 5 per cent interest rate, you would generate around $5 million in just one year. Come tax time next year, you would have to pay tax on that immense amount of money. First Financial's James Wrigley told Yahoo Finance you should seek out advice from professionals if you win big as they can guide you into divvying up the money wisely before you spend it Australia doesn't always count lottery wins in its income assessment. This is because it assesses what you might earn on a regular basis and hitting the jackpot is stored under the "unlikely to happen again" and "hard to predict" categories. It's also because the money wasn't from "a service or work provided". But it depends on how you accept the payment. Lottery winners can usually either get it as a lump sum payment, or they can choose to have it spread out in regular payment intervals over several years. Services Australia will treat it as part of the income assessment if you pick the latter option because then it would be regular income, and that could drastically reduce how much Centrelink you receive. That's what happened to South Australian resident Frank Kemmler, who was kicked off his disability support pension after winning a $60,000 lotto prize. While he was stoked at the sudden influx of cash, he claimed he wasn't given an option between the lump sum or regular payments. The Adelaide man had to foot the bill for GP appointments and medication that was previously paid for by his pension. "I'm just trying to stop other people from falling into the same trap,' he told A Current Affair. 'These people that are buying these [lottery] tickets, there's no warning anywhere … to say that you're going to lose your pension. Centrelink recipients have been urged to tell Services Australia as soon as possible about their new financial situation. Even if you take a lump sum payment, your payments could still be affected. Depending on how much you win, the government body will include your lottery earnings as part of your asset test. If it's over a certain amount, combined with your other assets, your payments could be reduced or switched off. The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1517 on Thursday, 12 12 were 28, 10, 3, 16, 31, 14 and 21. The all-important Powerball number was 6. The person who won the entire $100 million jackpot purchased their ticket in Sydney's eastern suburbs. There were also six division two winners, who scored $282,415.55 each. In addition to them, there were 3,056,245 wins across divisions two to nine in the draw, and they have shared in more than $60.9 million of prize money. That's an average win of $19 each. Half of all Australian adults were expected to have bought a ticket for the megadraw. More than 10 million people bought a ticket for the last $100 million draw in November last year. If you didn't win, rest assured that scoring the grand prize has odds of one to 134 in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ATO warning for every Aussie who plays lottery after $70 million Oz Lotto jackpot
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a warning to millions of people who play the lottery following last night's $70 million draw. Fifteen individuals who were part of a syndicate took out the Division One. Each syndicate member has pocketed $4.713 million following Tuesday night's massive win. The ATO has reminded them what happens when you have a sudden influx of money. "You don't need to declare your winnings to us, and you won't pay tax on them," the tax office said. "But, any interest earned on the winnings will need to be included in your assessable income." ATO responds to controversial tax deduction Aussies try to claim every year: 'Be very careful' Rare 50 cent coin worth 80 times more: 'Keep your eyes out' Centrelink blow for Australians 'doing it tough' amid debate over $932 JobSeeker increase If you chuck the winnings into a bank account with a decent interest rate, you could be pulling in a substantial amount of interest every month. When it comes to tax time, the ATO will look at all that extra money, which could see you jump up a tax bracket. Financial planner James Wrigley from First Financial told Yahoo Finance that you should seek out advice from professionals if you win big. 'The thing that catches out a lot of lotto winners, elite sports people and all the rest, is that they go spending the capital," he said."You do not want to go falling into the trap of spending the capital on cars and luxury goods … you want to push that money into a trust.' Figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show around 30 per cent of Australian adults gamble on lotteries at least once a month. Considering there are more than 20 million adults in the country, that's approximately six million getting involved in a monthly lottery draw. The 15 syndicate members were all based in Queensland and didn't even know each other. They all picked up their share in the syndicate at 15 different Golden Casket outlets across the Sunshine State. A Bribie Island man had to be woken up to be told of the news. 'Bloody hell!' he said. 'Oh my god, that's so good. This changes our lives. We've been trying to get our first home, so this will do that. A Richlands man said he was looking at retiring now that he he's more than $4 million richer and initially thought the Lott was lying when they rang. 'I thought you were sh**-stirring me,' he laughed. 'I just can't believe it. While some winners now know of their instant riches, however some are still unaware. The Lott's Anna Hobdell urged people who bought into a syndicate in Queensland to check their tickets as soon as possible. 'Just imagine how thrilling it would be to discover you're part of this winning group... Your plans for Easter and beyond could be transformed," she said. The winning numbers in Oz Lotto draw 1626 on Tuesday 15 April 2025 were 14, 32, 13, 29, 41, 23 and 8, while the supplementary numbers were 43, 4 and 40. In addition to the syndicate taking out the Division One prize, there were also 1,248,555 winners in divisions two to seven who collectively won $27,266,400.30. This includes 41 division two winners who each scored $24, in to access your portfolio
