Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) through the Gaming Sector announced on Tuesday that the Board has finally approved the request of the gaming public to re-implement the P24 lotto ticket consolation prize.
“The Gaming Sector looked for ways where we can get the additional P4 para naman maibalik ito sa mga players. Matagal na nilang request na ibalik, dagdagan, o gawin man lang P24 ‘yung consolation prize,” said Arnel Casas, PCSO Assistant General Manager for Gaming Sector.
The implementation of Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law in 2017 brought about harsh taxes to personal income tax, estate tax, donor’s tax, value added tax (VAT), the excise tax of petroleum products, automobiles, sweetened beverages, cosmetic procedures, coal, mining, and tobacco, including PCSO’s document stamp tax (DST),
Under the new TRAIN law, lottery tickets were subject to higher DST prompting PCSO to impose a new price scheme for Lotto and other gaming ticket prices from P5 to P6, P10 to P12, and P20 to P24.
The TRAIN law also imposed a 20-percent tax on winnings of more than P10,000 from Lotto, Keno, Small Town Lottery (STL), sweepstakes, and other PCSO products.
Apparently, the low tier prize of the fourth prize (when a player gets three correct out of six numbers), happens to be the same as the amount paid by the player which is P20 where bettors can exchange their “winning” lotto ticket for a new bet as this has been the practice for the longest time. But with the increase in Lotto ticket price from P20 to P24, bettors need to add P4.
Online, text betting to increase sales
Casas admitted that the P63.55 billion overall PCSO sales in 2018 would be very hard to surpass this year because it became very phenomenal.
He further revealed that the Gaming Sector is eyeing the implementation of mobile applications or internet gaming of existing Lotto games this year, especially with popularity of smart phones.
Social classes are hierarchical grouping of individuals based on wealth, educational attainment, occupation, income, etc. Class A and Bs or the Upper Classes are moderate to big businessman, top executive; while Class Cs are junior executives or young professional, semi-professional or a middle level supervisor, small businessman, generally skilled or white collar worker.
Casas assured the gaming public that the agency, particularly the Gaming Sector, will always protect the lottery draws to make sure they won’t have glitches and the winners are always legitimate.
