Lottery

THE NATIONAL LOTTERY

Playing the National Lottery is a form of legalised gambling. Most people play the National Lottery on a regular basis usually as a small bit of fun.

SYNDICATES

If a group of people pool their money together and purchase tickets with a view to sharing the winnings then they usually form a syndicate.

SETTING UP A SYNDICATE

A group of people who wish to start a syndicate need to decide how many shares will be in the syndicate, how much they are each going to pay for each share and how the prize money will be divided. Each syndicate member must be over 16.

CO ORDINATOR

It is essential that someone be appointed to co-ordinate the running of the syndicate. The coordinator will collect the money, purchase the tickets, and collect and divide the winnings.

WRITTEN AGREEMENT

It is also essential that a syndicate have a written agreement. This sets out the date of the agreement, the syndicate members, the coordinators name, the numbers to be used, the stake to be paid by each member, how any winnings are to be divided, what happens if a member does not pay, and any publicity decision.

A clear, written, agreement must be in place before any prize has been won, otherwise the Inland Revenue may treat a distribution of prize money to each of the syndicate members as being taxable. As well as covering the tax problems, the agreement is also designed to minimise potential arguments between syndicate members about what happens if someone accidentally places the wrong numbers, fails to place the numbers at all, or tries to run off with any prize money.

The agreement needs to be witnessed and copies made and given to each member. If the syndicate changes a new written agreement should be drawn up. If there is no written agreement and the winner of a prize transfers it to another then tax implications can arise.