New Lottery Law Targets Tax Delinquency

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed lottery legislation into law on Friday, giving the Connecticut Lottery Corp. the ability to deduct government debts, such as back taxes, from lottery wins of over $5,000.

Introduced by State Representative Gerald Fox III (D-Stamford), the new law will take effect on January 1, 2012. "“It makes sense that someone who owes back taxes to the state should pay those taxes if they are lucky enough to win a lottery,” Fox said in an official press release.

"This will not only raise needed revenue for the state, but will help create greater confidence and fairness in our tax system.”

As it stands, the Connecticut Lottery Corp. must check winning tickets valued at $5,000 or more against a child support delinquency list. According to an official press release, the lottery child support collection program has brought in $1.5 million in delinquent payments since 2004.

Fox suggests that Stamford's Anthony Martino, who testified in February to the state legislature's Public Safety Committee in favor of the the new legislation, is largely responsible for the passing of the legislation.

“Winners are checked against a database of obligates owing child support, so I suggested the state could apply the same process to those owing delinquent taxes. The concept could be further extended to casino winnings,” Martino told the panel.