“Live free or die,” has morphed into “Live free and play the lottery,” in New Hampshire, with a new ad attempting to draw in Massachusetts State Lottery players by making claims of playing tax-free in the Granite State.
The ad, posted to the NH Lottery YouTube channel, begins with a woman in a Boston sweatshirt singing praises in a thick Boston accent to the Massachusetts State Lottery, over the $1 million prize she just won on a scratch ticket.
After hearing a suspicious knock at the door, she said, “You’re that no-good Massachusetts tax shark that’s been swimming around stealing all our lottery winnings. Nuh-uh, get outta here!”
But the shark convinces her to open the door and bites down on her head. Then, a man in a suit appears in front of the camera.
“Why play the lottery in Massachusetts, where state taxes — including the new millionaire’s tax — will cost you an extra 9%?” he quipped, as the woman wrestles with the shark in the background.
“Instead, live free and play in New Hampshire, where your income and lottery winnings are always free of state taxes,” he concluded. “I’m gonna send you back to Martha’s Vineyard!” the woman hollered.
The narrator appears to insinuate Massachusetts lottery players should play in New Hampshire to avoid paying taxes on their winnings while throwing shade at the Fair Share Amendment that went into effect this year.
The 9% figure may be misleading. A lottery prize will be taxed at 5% income tax, but the additional 4% so-called “fair share” amendment only applies to income above $1 million.
Also, Bay State winners in the New Hampshire State Lottery would still have to pay state taxes on their earnings, as Massachusetts residents are subject to income tax on all of their taxable income, regardless of its source.
Therefore, a Massachusetts resident who wins the lottery in New Hampshire would still be required to pay taxes on that prize to Massachusetts, though New Hampshire would not be collecting due to the Granite State’s laws.
The ad comes before the historical Powerball drawing for $1.4 billion over the weekend, which was not hit and rolled to a $1.55 billion jackpot as of Monday, Oct. 9. The drawing for the Powerball jackpot is on Monday night.
WBUR spoke to the Department of Revenue just before the jackpot drawing, which clarified what would happen if a Bay Stater won the grand prize, regardless of which state they purchased the ticket in.
“So if someone hit the jackpot for $1.4 million, they would pay 5% on the first $1 million and 9% on the remaining $400,000,” the Department of Revenue told the outlet.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu also had some misleading language in the New Hampshire Lottery’s press release on Oct. 2, about the ad, stating to “save yourself millions” by buying and playing the lottery in New Hampshire.
The release stated its “comedic” ad was made for “highlighting the tax benefits of just being a resident of the state and specifically, of playing and winning the lottery in New Hampshire — while poking a little friendly fun at its neighbor to the south.”
