Last year was the first time that Spain has taxed major Loterías winnings, but the change did not give the Finance Ministry the revenues that it had hoped for. Instead, taxing lottery winnings has undermined ticket sales.
When the economic crisis began five years ago, lottery ticket and raffle sales fell by 4% because fewer people were buying. When the new tax went into effect in 2013, sales plummeted by 8.13%. The measure has been poorly received by the Spanish people, and even though final annual revenue numbers have not been published, it is more than likely that they will fall short of the 800 million target. This is just another hurdle for the government's plan to increase tax revenues.
