N.Y. Tax Law 1614 – Unclaimed and abandoned prize money
§ 1614. Unclaimed and abandoned prize money. a. No prize claim shall be valid if submitted to the commission following the expiration of a one-year time period from the date of the drawing or from the close of the game in which a prize was won, and the person otherwise entitled to such prize shall forfeit any claim or entitlement to such prize moneys. Unclaimed prize money, plus interest earned thereon, shall be retained in the lottery prize account to be used for payment of special lotto or supplemental lotto prizes offered pursuant to the plan or plans specified in this article, or for promotional purposes to supplement other games on an occasional basis not to exceed sixteen weeks within any twelve month period pursuant to the plan or plans specified in this article.
Terms Used In N.Y. Tax Law 1614
- Commission: means the New York state gaming commission. See N.Y. Tax Law 1602
- Director: means the director of the division of the lottery, except for purposes of paragraph four of subsection c of section one thousand six hundred thirteen and sections one thousand six hundred fourteen and one thousand six hundred fifteen of this chapter the term "director" shall mean the "commission". See N.Y. Tax Law 1602
- division: means the "division of gaming" as created pursuant to section one hundred two of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law. See N.Y. Tax Law 1602
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Lottery: means the lottery operated by the state pursuant to this article. See N.Y. Tax Law 1602
Furthermore, the commission shall not use funds from such lottery prize account for such payments, as provided herein, in excess of sixty million dollars in any fiscal year. All unclaimed prize money in excess of the sixty million dollars spending limitation shall, at the end of the fiscal year, be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the state lottery fund created by § 92-c of the state finance law.
In the event that the director proposes to change any plan for the use of unclaimed prize funds or in the event the director intends to use funds in a game other than the game from which such unclaimed prize funds were derived, the director of the budget, the chairperson of the senate finance committee, and the chairperson of the assembly ways and means committee shall be notified in writing separately detailing the proposed changes to any plan prior to the implementation of the changes.
b. The division may determine that a prize has been abandoned whenever more than eighteen months have elapsed since a prize payment check was mailed to the last known address of the claimant and either such check has been returned undelivered by the United States postal service and the claimant cannot be located or such check has not been returned undelivered and has not been presented for payment. Any prize so determined to have been abandoned shall be paid to the state comptroller pursuant to § 1315 of the abandoned property law.