I'm not advocating not paying the tax at present but that's the way it should be viewed, buying lottery tickets is not a means of earning money, nor is gambling yet they are subject to "income taxes" and the first line that asks about money on the tax form Line 7...Wages, salaries, tips, etc. attach form W-2. The only way would be to declare lottery tickets as an investment vehicle and then tax it as capital gains but then you could deduct all your losing tickets from income....