David Cay Johnston at Reuters recently took a look at the economics behind state lotteries in the United States. Some of the findings include:

• Lotteries pay out about 62% of their revenue in winnings. That means lottery tickets are taxed at a rate of 38%.
• Americans spent $50.4 billion on lottery tickets in 2009
• Lottery winnings are taxed…further increasing the tax burden placed upon lottery tickets
• In 11 states the lottery provides more revenue than the state’s income tax

You can read more over here.

Source: Reuters

Via: Gerry Canavan