Only enter C+S that you are comfortable with and remember that in the US all winnings of any kind are taxable. Winning a $ 40,000 car or a $ 5,000 trip makes for a pretty hefty tax burden come next January. However, many times you can request cash instead of merchandise or services. If it comes to the worst, you can also refuse the prize. Also beware of a pitfall if you survive a large prize that is paid out in equal payments over an amount of years like an annuity. Let’s say you die before you receive all the installments, your estate will be taxed in a lumpsum, if applicable, on the outstanding balance which might cause your heirs a big headache.
Some C+S enthusiasts or should we call them fanatics like to enter C+S for their family and friends which is wonderful; just make sure you get their permission or you might end up with a quarrel when it is tax time. Those pesky taxes can take some of the fun out of C+S unless the winner has the money to meet the tax requirements for a non cash prize like a $ 5,000 trip.
All the S+C participants who brag about winning consistently a bunch of prizes every year, will also tell you if you pressure them that their bounty includes a lot of small items like movie tickets, cleaning products, sports caps or snackfood. Last Saturday, for example, I spent three dollars for two big cups of soda at Subway to be able to play the puzzle game. It was fun to remove the puzzle pieces and win a 98 cents Garden Salsa chip bag. To win on a consistent basis, you probably have to enter a huge amount of C+S and collect a huge amount of consolation prizes. I’ve played the state lottery since its beginning and the most I’ve won is 5oo dollars. The feeling of anticipation makes it all worth while and the feeling of contributing to the state revenue twice a week makes it double worth while.
Is a local, state or national or international C+S entry more desirable? You might want to consider that the less people enter a C+S the better the chance of winning a prize. When we moved to Nebraska in 2002, I filled out two ballots at our Coop for a first prize of 100 dollars grocery shopping spree at the store and my husband won it. I doubled my weekly grocery money and for one week we ate pretty good. Thanks COOP.
Before you start a contest, you should consider if you can actually take advantage of the prize. Here is my example. When I was enrolled im Gymnasium in Ingenbohl, Switzerland, I entered a screen writing contest. I documented the dedication of the new church bell in my hometown and was awarded a week of free training in Zurich to produce a movie. My parents did not allow me to participate because the travel and room and board would have cost too much. My Dad did not drink or smoke. He had always a need to buy one more tool to remodel the house we lived in which turned out to be a nightmare. Who knows with that free training, I might have ended up a famous producer and could have raked in the dough. I’m writing this blog to put my past behind me as you can tell.
Here is one more event from my early days when I was about six years old. My mother’s cousin Joseph was selling tickets to support his local music band. In Switzerland we did not have any age requirement to buy tickets of chance. Like everybody else in my family I got one ticket, but when I got home, aunt Marie was willing to trade her ticket for mine because I could not make up my mind which number I wanted. We traded and of course she ended up with the second prize which was a brand new 3-piece living room set. As luck would have it, aunt Marie got married a short time later and made good use of her winnings. My advice: think carefully before trading your ticket of chance with somebody.
When you work on a contest, take your time to finish it. Here is an example from my own experience. When I was 8 years old our local grocery store displayed a jar of coffeebeans. The first prize was a new schoolbag for the correct beancount. I forget how many times I counted the beans in a jar of the same size as the grocery store had, before I turned in my guess of counted coffeebeans. Well, I was correct and won that first prize. I was so proud to have something new to bring to school because usually I ended up with other people’s hand-me-downs.
Always remember, there is a winner for every contest. This brings me to the tough ones. Don’t avoid them because there is always a chance that your entry is as good or better than everybody else’s. It is obvious that the bigger the challenge to complete the entry the less people will have the patience to finish it, which improves your odds of winning with a finished product.
It is a given that you have to send in the finished entry on time and when you get a notice of being a winner by email or by snailmail, you have to claim your prize
THE POWER TO MOVE MOUNTAINS IS WITHIN US.
Tags: cash, merchandise, screen writing contest, taxes
