Sunday, April 20, 2014

Michigan Lottery Takes the Sting out of Tax Day

April 15, was tax day in the USA, and all income tax returns had to be in, so the Michigan Lottery decided to inject a little positivity into the occasion by organizing a special $40,000  raffle that would allow around one out of every six player to win a tax-free prize.

Tickets were priced at $10 and by the time ticket sales closed, on April 14, the lottery had sold over 410,000 tickets.

Nearly 700 players won $100, over 25,000 players won $50, and many more players received $15 prizes.

The drawing also provided 13 top prizes of $40,000 and 12 of them went to out of state players.

A customer of the Mayfield Country Store purchased the only big-winning ticket in Michigan, but has yet to claim their tax-free prize.

Last year the Mayfield Country Store's customers were awarded around $13,000 in prizes and store co-owner Dan DeVries is delighted that one of his customers has won over three times this amount on a single ticket.

"Being a small new store, it's unbelievable," DeVries said. "Just opened in June. There's stores that have been open a long time that haven't sold the magic ticket."

In order to claim their tax-free prizes the 13 $40,000 winners will have to arrange an appointment with the Michigan Lottery's Public Relations Division by ringing Michigan 517-373-1237. Smaller prizes can be claimed from any Michigan Lottery retailer.