On December 22, like every year, the Christmas Lottery draw takes place. At 20 euros per tenth, many people decide to share it with friends, colleagues or family.
But how to share the Lottery safely? Since the tenth is a bearer document, this means that, if there is a prize, the money is collected by whoever physically has it in their possession.
How to share a Christmas lottery ticket safely
The first thing is to put it in writing, since verbal agreements do not serve as proof in the event of a dispute. To avoid misunderstandings, and above all to prevent the person who has saved the tenth from keeping the entire endowment, the OCU recommends following these tips:
- If several people share a tenth, the safest thing is that whoever keeps it will make a photocopy of it and give each participant a signed copy, indicating their name and identity document, as well as the number, series, fraction, draw and the amount of money that each person is playing.
- Another option is to send a photo of the tenth by email or WhatsApp. This can serve as proof if the details of the custodian, participants and the money each invested are included. However, if someone questions its validity because they claim it has been manipulated, its authenticity will need to be proven.
- In the case of purchasing the tenth online, the electronic receipt from the platform has the same legal validity as the paper tenth.
- Paying our tenth share via Bizum or bank transfer, i.e. using a method that leaves a trace of it, will also help to prove that it is a shared ticket.
What if all participants signed the tenth?
According to the State Lotteries and Betting (SELAE), there is no rule against writing on a tenth of the Christmas lottery, nor any that says doing so invalidates it. Of course, writing should not prevent the reading of any important data from the tenth. There are those who choose to write the names and IDs of all participants on the back of the tenth, along with the amount played by each.
However, as we discussed at the beginning, lottery tickets are bearer documents. This means that whoever presents it physically will be able to collect the prize, regardless of what is written there. A signature behind a tenth does not guarantee ownership of the prize, nor that it is a shared ticket. Better to follow the aforementioned OCU recommendations.
How to recover a shared tenth?
The first step consists of identifying at the bank the people who share the price and their percentage of participation. Later, banks can pay the entire prize into the account of the person who owns it in that same entity, and that person is responsible for distributing the prize to other participants. It must be taken into account that the Treasury withholds 20% tax on prices above 40,000 euros. That is, the tax is deducted and the remaining money is then distributed among everyone who played the tenth.
The main advice is that one person should never collect everything without identifying the people with whom they shared the ticket, because otherwise, by giving it away, it would appear that they are giving away money, which would require payment of the gift tax.
Finally, the OCU reminds that if the prize is less than 2,000 euros, it can be collected at any official Christmas Lottery point of sale. Entities cannot request any type of compensation from people who come to collect raffle prizes.
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