NY Racinos - Half of winnings garnished

I saw this online:
A receipt from a NYC casino where half of the winnings was garnished to pay for previous welfare benefits received.

New York Law from 1995 states:
“Lottery players who win prizes of more than $600 can only get their prizes at state lottery centers.
There, lottery officials process winners' Social Security numbers and other identifying information
to determine, among other things, whether they've received public assistance over the last 10 years.
If they have, the state can seize up to 50 percent of the winner's payout to help pay back what they've
gotten in welfare. The state cannot take more than what a recipient received in welfare.”

So this is why racinos will be lottery-like. Clearly in the near 90% tax bracket for this person.
I checked one casino I go to, and it used to be a racino for 10 years until around 2017 when it got upgraded to Las Vegas style gaming. So the VLT's are out.

Let's see what the withholding percentage on these are. Federal was 23.95% (just short of 24%); city was 3.868%; and state was 10.8779% for a total of $5,039.91 or 38.6973% before the 50% garnishment.

NY State has been doing this for at least twenty years. It's crazy. The state promotes the lottery to its poorest citizens and then seizes their winnings if they manage to get ahead.

Quote: billryan

NY State has been doing this for at least twenty years. It's crazy. The state promotes the lottery to its poorest citizens and then seizes their winnings if they manage to get ahead.
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It may be why the worst kept secret in every city, the bodegas that accept welfare for tobacco, alcohol and lottery, is tolerated by the government. The government gets a big piece of that money back, which they wouldn't get if it was spent on food.

At RW Aqueduct, it is not uncommon for big winners who owe child support or taxes, to pay someone $50 and more to cash their receipt. One offered me $100 to cash his receipt. I ignored him.

This person probably wasn't aware the state would collect for previous public assistance received.

Quote: Tanko

At RW Aqueduct, it is not uncommon for big winners who owe child support or taxes, to pay someone $50 and more to cash their receipt. One offered me $100 to cash his receipt. I ignored him.

This person probably wasn't aware the state would collect for previous public assistance received.
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When I was there it was ten percent. But that was years ago and may have changed.

We had a bar in Queens that was next to an OTB. Several old-timers made a nice living cashing tickets for people. I never understood it, as almost all the people who had a winning ticket were long-term losers.