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The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom.
It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery was initially regulated by the National Lottery Commission, which has since been abolished and its responsibilities transferred to the Gambling Commission, and was established by the government of John Major in 1994.
All prizes are paid as a lump sum and are tax-free. Of all money spent on National Lottery games, around 53% goes to the prize fund and 25% to "good causes"[2] as set out by Parliament (though some of this is considered by some to be a form of "stealth tax"[3] levied to support the National Lottery Community Fund, a fund constituted to support public spending).[4] 12% goes to the UK Government as lottery duty, 4% to retailers as commission, and a total of 5% to operator Camelot,[2] with 4% to cover operating costs and 1% as profit.[5] Lottery tickets and scratch cards (introduced in 1995) may be bought only by people of at least 16 years of age. |