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  3. Codes of Practice
  4. Society and local authority lotteries - proceeds and other monetary limits

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Society and local authority lotteries - proceeds and other monetary limits

A society or local authority lottery must apply a minimum of 20% of the gross proceeds of each lottery directly to the purposes of the society or in the case of a local authority a purpose for which the authority has power to incur expenditure.

Up to a maximum of 80% of the gross proceeds of each lottery may be divided between prizes and the expenses of the lottery.

In a single large society or local authority lottery the maximum value of tickets that can be sold is £5 million. The maximum aggregate value of lottery tickets that can be sold in any calendar year is £50 million (pro-rata limit of £31,311,475 in 2020).

The maximum prize in a single lottery is £25,000 in the case of a small society lottery and £25,000 or 10% of the proceeds (gross ticket sales), whichever is greater, in the case of a large society or local authority lottery. Therefore, a large society or local authority lottery that sells the maximum number of tickets in a single lottery (£5 million) could award a maximum top prize of £500,000.

Rollovers are permitted provided the maximum single prize limit is not breached.

Every ticket in the lottery must be the same price and the cost of purchased tickets must be paid to the society before entry into the draw is allowed.

There is no maximum price of a lottery ticket.

No lottery organised by a large society or local authority may operate in such a way that a player can win a prize greater than the statutory prize limit of £500,000.

No lottery organised by a large society or local authority may be linked to any other lottery in such a way that a person who wins a prize in one also wins a prize in another, unless the aggregate of those prizes is less than or equal to the statutory prize limit of £500,000.

Where separate lotteries have a feature that allows a player to win a larger prize than the statutory maximum of £500,000 by selecting the same numbers in different lotteries and these lotteries are decided by the same draw, no advertisement or other marketing of the lotteries may refer to this feature. A lottery cannot be linked to a prize competition or free draw if the maximum amount which a person can win is more than £500,000 in aggregate.

Where separate lotteries have a feature that allows a player to win a larger prize than the statutory maximum of £500,000 by selecting the same numbers in different lotteries and these lotteries are decided by the same draw, no advertisement or other marketing of the lotteries may refer to this feature. A lottery cannot be linked to a prize competition or free draw if the maximum amount which a person can win is more than £500,000 in aggregate.

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