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A comment on Mega Millions ticket wins $1.34B lottery jackpot. Parent comment

Re:Mega Millions ticket wins $1.34B lottery jackpot by rco8786 on Saturday July 30, 2022 @04:59PM (#32290263)
It’s voluntary so obviously not a tax. But two things are true: First, for one reason or another poor people tend to play the lottery significantly more than people get are financially stable. Second, the lottery funds the government.

So looking purely at the macro level, the net effect looks a lot like a regressive tax. Which is why people say that even if it’s not 100% true.

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Re:Mega Millions ticket wins $1.34B lottery jackpot by willnonya on Saturday July 30, 2022 @07:45PM (#32291526)
Not 100% true? Not even slightly true. People have convinced themselves that only the "poor" play the lottery but that is patently false.

Yes it is a tax on a voluntary transaction but those are taxed already. I think the problem is less that people play the lottery than that the lottery is taxed so heavily to begin with.

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Re:Mega Millions ticket wins $1.34B lottery jackpot by rco8786 on Saturday July 30, 2022 @09:40PM (#32292327)
Poor people spend more money on the lottery than middle/upper income. That’s not really a debate?

Anyway I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with the term. I am just explaining to you why people refer to it as a regressive tax.

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Re:Mega Millions ticket wins $1.34B lottery jackpot by morsch on Sunday July 31, 2022 @02:32AM (#32293697)
Buying liquor is voluntary. Alcohol taxes are still taxes.
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