Winning a car is one of those things that every American dreams about. Especially since there are plenty of lotteries and shows in the United States that allow you to compete for such a prize. Lately, many online gambling sites are offering no deposit casino bonuses and fight for an incredible win. However, all is not so simple with these draws, and if you delve deeper into the subject more thoroughly, some will give up this dream in favor of another – more realistic and enjoyable.
The first thing a lucky person who wins a new car will face is taxes. For example, in 2021, a U.S. resident won a Toyota Camry TRD worth $32260. Under U.S. law, any winnings of $600 or more are taxed at 10% to 37%, depending on the taxpayer’s category. After that, an additional 9% state tax will be deducted, as well as local taxes in some states (about 2-3%).
That said, some lotteries make winners pay taxes upfront, even before they receive the car. This is necessary in order to sign a contract with a dealer and have the car registered.
Then it is imperative that you take out insurance, which each state resident is given 10 to 30 days to do as a matter of course. What’s more, some dealers ask to show the insurance before they hand over the car.
The best part comes next. Once the car is in your possession, you have to go to the Department of Transportation and get license plates and register the car on several forms: emissions test, test certificate, insurance, title, and more.
Car Maintenance Cost
You can also add to that the maintenance cost at an authorized dealership, which is quite high for new cars under the current warranty. If you think about buying gasoline all the time, as well as paying for insurance on a regular basis, you can get depressed.
If you don’t live in your own home but in an apartment building, parking fees will also be included in your monthly expenses.
Given everything we talked about in the article above, many winners choose to simply sell the car they win to get some benefit from it after the tax deduction and registration. Moreover, some shows and lotteries immediately offer to take the winnings in cash, which is much more profitable, but such opportunities are becoming fewer and fewer.
Instead of concluding, it is worth saying that any winnings are great luck, and of course, everyone will be happy to win their own new car, despite all the difficulties of registering it or paying taxes. However, it is definitely worth knowing about all the pitfalls beforehand.