Onam bumper winner Anoop will get Rs 15.75 cr in his account, but won't be able to use it fully

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Anoop from Thiruvananthapuram, who won the Onam bumper of Rs 25 crores, can use only about Rs 12.89 crore from the prize money. The amount he receives in his bank account after deducting 10 percent agent commission and 30 percent tax will be Rs 15.75 crore. But that's not the whole story.

Only the agent's commission and TDS are directly collected by the lottery department. Apart from this, there are other taxes to be paid. After the prize money reaches the account, the lucky winner whose income exceeds Rs 5 crore will have to pay a surcharge of 37 percent of the tax. Apart from this, four percent of the tax and cess charge should be paid as health education cess. That is, the total tax liability of the person who won a bumper of 25 crores after 10 percent agent commission is Rs 9,61,74,000. The balance should be paid within two months after the money reaches the account. In case of delay, a penalty of one percent of this amount shall be paid every month. Majority don't have an idea about surcharge and cess. So they don't pay this amount. By the time they have to pay this amount plus penalty at the time of filing their income tax return at the end of the year, many people might have already spent a good amount of money in their account. This opens the way for the lucky winner to become bankrupt.