Can A Group Claim A Lottery Prize Together?

Click here to watch video of the
Lucky 13 claiming their prize!

You’ve probably heard about groups that have won lottery prizes together, like the co-workers at a Maquoketa printing plant who won a $400,000 Powerball prize in March. But a lot of people wonder how a group goes about claiming a prize when there’s just one ticket involved.

When a group wins a lottery prize in Iowa, just one person signs the back of the ticket, but they indicate they are doing so on behalf of the group. You can use whatever name your group has chosen. In the case of the Maquoketa winners, they were the Maquoketa News Lucky 13.       

If your group is claiming a prize of $600 or more that requires a claim form, you check the box showing that more than one person is claiming the prize. Each member of the group then provides information on an IRS Form 5754 so all of the winners are listed for tax-reporting purposes.

The lottery issues a check for the prize to the person who signed the back of the ticket. That person then can deposit or cash the check and split the winnings with the group!

Here are some quick tips to remember if you’re buying lottery tickets as part of a group:

 Keep a list of everyone who gives money to buy group tickets and how much they contribute.
 If you’re buying tickets for a group and also plan to buy tickets for yourself, you may want to buy them separately so there’s no confusion about which tickets are which.
 You also can make photocopies of the tickets for your group and give out copies before the drawing so everyone can see the numbers that were played.