Lotto winner pays taxes

A 52-year-old domestic of Cane End is the first lotto winner to be made to pay the 10 per cent tax imposed by government on winnings of $500 and above.{{more}}

The National Lottery Authority’s Marketing Manager Kumar Persaud last week Thursday presented a cheque for $63,000 to Cynthia Findlay, a mother of four, at a ceremony held at the George’s Supermarket in Mesopotamia where the winning lottery ticket was purchased.

Findlay had to pay the government $7,000 of the $70,000 she won in the Island Number Lotto Jackpot Draw on Friday, 7 January. She was the first person to win the jackpot for the New Year.

The winning numbers were 4, 6, 12, 15 and 31, with 16 as the bonus number.

Findlay said she was viewing the draw on television and when she realised she had won, she got up from her chair and praised God.

Asked what plans she had for the jackpot money, Findlay said she had none, but she intended to put it in a fixed deposit account at a commercial bank.

The woman said she had been playing the lottery game since it was launched over 20 years ago and the 10 per cent tax will not dissuade her because she viewed the tax payment as a personal opportunity to contribute to the national economy.