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  • Sweepstakes nightmares: Your prize provider drops out

    A staffer at our law firm is not feeling amused by a certain amusement park. She recently won a sweepstakes for a fully-paid trip for four to this park. But now two weeks out from the trip, she and her family have no plane tickets, no room key and a growing animosity for the company.

    The amusement park is providing the prize, but it’s an L.A. broadcast company that sponsored the sweepstakes. And it’s that company that will be in the lurch if this woman’s trip falls through and she takes her grievances to Twitter.

    This PR nightmare could unfold for ...

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  • The IRS wins every sweepstakes

    Aside from the winners, there’s no one more excited about sweepstakes prizes than the IRS. States that collect income taxes get pretty tickled, too.

    Many sweepstakes winners don’t realize they have partners when it comes to accepting their prize. The IRS and state treasurers don’t care who wins the prize because they are guaranteed to receive a share of virtually every prize awarded. (They may, however, root for a winner in the highest tax bracket.)

    Thompson Coburn’s tax gurus can speak to this more specifically, but here are some basic facts about state and federal tax laws that sweepstakes creators ...

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