The New Hampshire lawmakers have voted to repeal the 10% tax on lottery winnings that exceed $600. So, the inhabitants of the state can count themselves fortunate, because their lottery prizes will be free from taxes. Governor John Lynch signed the bill, after many voices claimed that the tax legislation adopted in 2009 was hurting state lottery sales. Powerball lottery

“It was great news,” Charlie McIntyre, the lottery’s executive directors, stated. Lottery winning numbers

“It was definitely a losing proposition,” D.J. Bettencourt, R-Salem, the House Majority Leader, stated. “This was hurting our cross-border advantage.”

Once the 10% tax was implemented in 2009, the lottery authorities could do nothing but sit and watch as lottery tickets sales decreased, especially at border community stores. Lottery results

“We were down and Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont were all up,” McIntyre stated. “To me, that was the statistic that was most telling. We noticed the drop-off in the border towns specifically. All were much worse off.”

The scratch lottery had the most to suffer, as sales kept going down. And because sales were going down, jackpots were smaller, and if jackpots were smaller, people played even less. It looked like a downward spiral which was never going to end. “We have crossover play,” McIntyre stated. “Someone who buys a scratch ticket often will play Powerball, too.”

“We saw about an 8 percent reduction in our overall handle and revenue in the areas of charitable gaming, bingo and racing. We had people who packed up and moved away to a more favorable state,” Callahan stated. “We’ll see if it bounces back. I think it will take six months. There’s no guarantee, of course.”

Meanwhile, lottery players rejoice at the news. “We can use all the little breaks we can get now,” Nancy Kelley, a lottery player from Sandown, stated. “You can take that 10 percent and put it in your gas tank.”

“That’s cool,” Renee Ferland,another lottery player from Sandown, added. “Ten percent? That’s an awful lot of money you have to pay in taxes. Not to mention what you spend for tickets.”

However, it seems that there were those for whom the tax did not matter at all. Many lottery players said that they weren’t even aware of the tax, while others said it doesn’t matter because the money went to education and other important things. Well, now that the tax is no longer, the New Hampshire lottery may have a turn of luck.