Assuming a portion of the proceeds from a state lottery go to charity, is the amount of money that you spend on lottery tickets tax deductible?
I am not a tax advisor, so double check this advice with someone who is. From what I understand, no, that is not the case. Lottery tickets are not tax deductible in that way, because you are not the direct contributor, and you got something of possibly greater value in return – so it can not be true charitable donation. Also, without knowing which state you are in, I know in my state the proceeds only go to schools, so you might want to check if they really go to charity. However, lottery ticket can be deductible in another way. If you are a habitual player or a chronic gambler (I guess that depends on your point of view), if you lose enough on lottery you can deduct it from your taxes. What you have to do in that case is take the difference between your winnings and losings, and deduct it as a loss. For instance, if I gambled $500 in tickets, and I won back $300, I could take $200 as a loss (again, double check this, as I have never done this, but I do know it is possible). I don’t re
