Michigan State University colleges/departments/units/organizations may wish to sponsor a charitable
gaming event (e.g., raffle or bingo). If a planned event is not a raffle, please contact the
University Tax Manager (355-5026) for guidance.
Those wishing to hold a raffle as a fundraiser must address the following requirements:
- State Requirements
- Please carefully review the State of Michigan’s raffle information and rules.
- After reviewing the rules, it is likely you will need to complete the Michigan Lottery's Raffle
License Application (also located at the Raffle web site). The application requires the
President of MSU's signature (the State will reject the application if the proper signature is
not included). On the form for item 7, please fill in the President's name and address. If
this is the first raffle license you are applying for, use "112301" as MSU's organizational
number in item 2. To route your application for the required signature, complete the
MSU Raffle Cover Letter
and route as instructed. Allow a minimum of 6 weeks for the State to
process the application once proper MSU signature is obtained.
- If the total value of all prizes awarded in one day is $500 or less, you will be holding a
"small raffle" and you will only need to complete the Raffle License Application to
obtain a license. After you hold your raffle, there are no further reporting requirements,
although the raffle rules may have certain record keeping requirements.
- If the total value of all prizes awarded in one day is more than $500,
you will need to obtain a license and also complete a State of Michigan
Raffle Financial Statement after the raffle takes place. The State will
send the required financial statement forms to you after the date of the
raffle (blank Raffle Financial Statement forms are also available at the
Raffle web site). You have until the 10th day of the month following the
month that the licensed raffle took place to complete and return the financial
statement to the State. Similar to the license application, the Raffle Financial
Statement form requires MSU executive signature (the State will reject the form if
the proper signature is not included). To route your form for the required
signature, complete the MSU Raffle Cover Letter
and route as instructed.
- Federal Requirements – If a prize is valued at $600 or more, and the prize
value is more than 300 times the wager (ticket price), certain Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) requirements must be followed. Please contact
Accounting, 355-5000, if you will be awarding a prize worth $600 or more to
arrange logistics of Federal tax reporting, including:
- When the prize is awarded, you must obtain a
Form W-9
from the prize winner along with the winner’s driver’s license number and the state that the license
was issued. This information is used to report game winnings to the IRS.
- If the prize is $5,000 or more, MSU may be required to collect withholding
tax from the prize winner. Generally, the withholding rates are 25% with
a completed W-9 (33.33% for certain non-cash payments) or 28% if the W-9
is not completed.
- University Requirements – If any of the raffle prizes were donated they will
need to be reported to University Development, Jill Ostrander
ostrand1@msu.edu or 884-1028.
University Development will require a Raffle Prize Donation Form be completed for each
prize donated. University Development uses this information to formally acknowledge
gifts to the donor if it meets certain requirements. The prize information also
needs to be sent to the University Tax Manager (355-5026) if over $600 for tax
reporting to the winner(s) of the raffle.
Please contact the University Tax Manager (355-5026) with any raffle/charitable gaming questions.