The Spaniards are gambling people judging by the history of the most famous and oldest lottery in the country — La Primitiva. The lottery was founded in 1762, but now it became widely known only two hundred years later when the lottery commercial advertising started among the general public through all media channels.
Today, every Spaniard knows perfectly well what La Primitiva is. The draws take place twice a week with the help of a funny Bombo lottery reel to determine the winner. What are the rules? Easy. You need to guess six numbers out of the pool of forty-nine. And this, as it turned out, is a simple task. During the year, La Primitiva pays out about 1.5 billion euros to its winners.
Over time, the lottery organizers realized that the win was too light and introduced an additional ball called “Reintegro”. The rules have become a little more complicated: now the ticket that you buy from distributors is also your identification number, and the Reintegro ball brings a jackpot that not everyone can win. It is not necessary to guess all six numbers to get a prize, even three, four or five numbers guessed can bring you a win. Mostly prizes in the lottery are valuables or monetary amounts. But remember that there is taxation on the amount won in this lottery. 20% of your winnings are charged by the tax authorities, the other part is all yours. The payout is made almost immediately in one payment, regardless of the amount. So, you can be sure to get your money instantly.
Well, did you decide to try your luck and play La Primitiva? You move in the right direction, just order lottery tickets if you are over 18 years old. If you are younger, either wait until coming of age, or ask your parents to buy tickets. The Spanish lottery jackpot always varies in amount, but, nevertheless, the sum of the jackpot stays great. Therefore, each player has a chance to win a half million euros on a ticket for a couple of euros. Worth a try, right? In addition, 35% of the lottery tickets sold are winning, which means that every third person who buys a ticket has a chance to become richer or win some kind of a prize.
La Primitiva Odds and Prize Table
| Match | Odds | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 6+R | 1 in 139,838,160 | Jackpot |
| 6 | 1 in 13,983,816 | €1,500,000 |
| 5+C | 1 in 2,330,636 | €100,000 |
| 5 | 1 in 55,201 | €2,500 |
| 4 | 1 in 1,032 | €60 |
| 3 | 1 in 57 | €9 |
| 0+R | 1 in 10 | €1 |
Taxes on Lottery Winnings
In Spain, lottery winners have to pay the 20% prize tax if the sum of the monetary prize exceeds the amount of €2500. Winnings less than €2500 are not taxed.
Noncitizens of Spain may ask for a refund of the withdrawn prize tax if the tax has already been paid in the country of residence. You need to apply to the Spanish tax authorities, after approval of which the tax refund is fully implemented within a year.
Taxes are automatically withheld directly from the winnings while they are cashed out. Therefore, all winnings in the lottery over €2500 will be credited to the prize account minus the above-mentioned prize tax — 20%.
