Draws for today Wednesday, August 19: schedules of Bonoloto and ONCE Daily Coupon

In Spain, state-wide lottery draws such as Bonoloto (State Society of Lotteries and State Bets, SELAE) or the ONCE Daily Coupon are governed by a very specific and restrictive regime. Not just any entity can organize them: the activity is largely reserved for specific operators and subject to a state gaming license.

1. Basic regulatory framework

• Law 13/2011, on gaming regulation, the main sectoral regulation for state-wide games, especially those conducted by electronic, computer, or telematic means (text in BOE).
• Royal Decree 1614/2011, which develops Law 13/2011 regarding licenses, authorizations, guarantees, and gaming registers (text in BOE).
• Royal Decree 1613/2011, on technical requirements for gaming activities (text in BOE).
• Law 10/2010, on prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, which applies to gaming operators (text in BOE).
• Resolutions and orders that develop responsible gaming, monitoring systems, and technical specifications (for example, DGOJ Resolution of 6-6-2024; BOE-A-2024-12639).

2. Reservation of state-wide lotteries (SELAE and ONCE)

Law 13/2011 itself establishes that the state-wide lottery activity is exclusively reserved for:

• The State Society of Lotteries and State Bets (SELAE), for products such as National Lottery, Primitiva, Bonoloto, etc.
• The National Organization of Spanish Blind People (ONCE), for the Coupon and other modalities (“active gaming”, “instant lottery”), regulated by its specific regulations published by the State Secretariat for Social Rights (for example, the ONCE Coupon Regulation: BOE-A-2023-9031).

This means that no other entity can operate state lotteries like Bonoloto or the Coupon. Other operators may only offer non-reserved games (bets, online casino, contests, etc.), always complying with state license requirements.

3. Enabling title and competent authority

• The state gaming authority is the General Directorate for the Regulation of Gaming (DGOJ), designated as the "authority in charge of regulating state-wide gaming" by Royal Decree 1614/2011.
• To operate non-reserved gaming activities, a prior enabling title is required:
  • General licenses (by game categories: bets, other games, contests).
  • Specific licenses, for each specific type of game within a general license.
  • Authorizations for occasional or sporadic games and for certain activities subject to reservation.
• The granting procedures respect the principles of transparency, objectivity, and non-discrimination, and are articulated through tender specifications (for example, Order HFP/1227/2017 calling for general licenses: BOE-A-2017-14856).

4. Solvency requirements and financial guarantees

Royal Decree 1614/2011 develops the requirements of Law 13/2011:

• Operator solvency requirements (minimum capital, absence of relevant criminal records, clear corporate structure…).
• Establishment of guarantees linked to each license (amounts set in Annex I of the royal decree) to ensure:
  • Payment of prizes and obligations to participants.
  • Compliance with tax obligations and gaming fees.
• Segregated management of gaming funds, regulation of deposits, gaming accounts, and prize payments.

5. Protection of participants, minors, and vulnerable groups

Law 13/2011 imposes:

• Prohibition of participation for minors, incapacitated persons, self-excluded individuals, and other categories (shareholders, operator executives, referees, etc.).
• Creation of state registers:
  • General Register of Gaming Licenses.
  • General Register of Gaming Access Prohibitions (self-excluded and banned individuals).
  • Register of Persons Linked to Gaming Operators.
• Obligation to implement access control and age verification measures in technical systems.

6. Advertising, responsible gaming, and anti-money laundering

• Advertising of games and operators without an enabling title is prohibited. Advertising media and networks must verify that the operator is authorized.
• Limits and conditions on advertising and sponsorship are regulated, with special emphasis on protecting youth and children (art. 6 CE) and on responsible gaming. The DGOJ has approved a responsible gaming test and specific measures by resolution of 16-11-2011 (BOE-A-2011-18060).
• Operators must strictly comply with Law 10/2010 on prevention of money laundering, including:
  • Formal identification of clients and monitoring of their activity.
  • Collaboration with the Executive Service of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering.
  • Internal anti-fraud and anti-money laundering manuals and procedures.

7. Regional competencies

All the above refers to state-wide games. The autonomous communities have their own competencies over in-person games and draws of exclusively regional or local scope, with their own registers and licenses. However, even at that level, they cannot infringe on the state reservation of lotteries nor reproduce products equivalent to Bonoloto or the ONCE Coupon.

ONCE holds a unique position in the Spanish gaming system: it is a public law corporation of a social nature whose main funding comes from the lotteries it operates, but always within a very strict framework of reservation and public control. Its functions and competencies in lotteries and games of chance are thoroughly regulated by Royal Decree 358/1991, its subsequent amendments, and by Law 13/2011, on gaming regulation, as well as by the General Government–ONCE Agreement 2022-2031.

1. Basic legal framework

Royal Decree 358/1991, of March 15, reorganizes ONCE and defines it as a public law corporation of a social nature, with its own legal personality and full capacity for self-organization, exercising delegated public functions under the State protectorate (arts. 1 and 2, as amended in 2011). To finance its social purposes, the regulation establishes that ONCE:

• “Enjoys a set of public authorizations in gaming matters” to operate the coupon and other lottery products (arts. 1.1 and 3, RD 358/1991).
• Obtains its resources “mainly through those obtained from operating gaming modalities within the lottery reservation established in its favor by the first additional provision of Law 13/2011” (RD 1127/2021).

This legal reservation means that, according to art. 4 and additional provisions of Law 13/2011, state-wide lotteries are reserved only for two operators: SELAE and ONCE. ONCE is also recognized as a unique social economy organization in the third additional provision of Law 5/2011, on Social Economy.

The framework is completed by:

• The twentieth additional provision of Law 46/1985, on the General State Budgets for 1986, which authorizes gaming licenses to ONCE.
• Royal Decree 1336/2005, which authorizes a specific modality of instant or pre-drawn lottery, with validity extended until December 31, 2031 by Royal Decree 1127/2021.
• The General Government–ONCE Agreement 2022-2031, approved by the Council of Ministers on November 2, 2021, which specifies conditions, limits, and schedules for ONCE-owned lottery modalities.

2. ONCE's competencies in gaming management

On this basis, ONCE has, among others, the following functions and competencies in managing its lotteries and games of chance:

• Operation of reserved lottery modalities (coupon, active game, and instant lottery), within the quantitative and product limits set in Law 13/2011, Law 46/1985, and the General Agreement 2022-2031 (RD 1127/2021).
• Product design and internal regulations: ONCE's General Council approves the regulations for each modality (coupon, active game, instant) and their technical appendices; these rules are published in the BOE by resolutions of the State Secretariat for Social Rights, after verification by the Protectorate Council.
• Determination of emissions, prices, and prize structure of its draws, always within the approved percentages and caps communicated to the Protectorate Council (for example, quarterly schedules of coupon and active game products published in the BOE for 2024–2025).
• Commercial and distribution management of its “social, safe, and responsible” lotteries, mainly channeled through a network of over 21,000 sellers and, where applicable, through official electronic channels (JuegosONCE), as highlighted by several recent resolutions and institutional communications.
• Signing agreements with other gaming operators for joint marketing of lottery products in the European Economic Area and, in certain cases, with operators from countries in the process of EU accession, after verification by the Protectorate Council and, in some cases, authorization by the Council of Ministers (art. 7.5 RD 358/1991, as amended by RD 3/2013 and RD 240492/2015).

3. Public control, limits, and obligations

ONCE's competencies in gaming are strongly limited by controls and restrictions:

• State protectorate: the ONCE Protectorate Council, a collegiate body regulated in art. 8 of RD 358/1991 and reinforced by RD 1127/2021, verifies:
  • That any proposals for new products, regulatory modifications, or draw schedules comply with the regulations and the General Agreement.
  • That gaming conditions are published in the BOE “as a guarantee for consumers.”
  • That control procedures and criteria common to all ONCE-owned lottery modalities are applied.
• Sanctioning power: within the Protectorate Council there is a Disciplinary Commission composed solely of Administration representatives (Interior, Social Rights, and Consumer Affairs) responsible for exercising sanctioning power for ONCE gaming infractions, according to Law 13/2011 and general procedural legislation (art. 8, RD 358/1991, amended by RD 1127/2021).
• Material limits of authorization: ONCE may only operate lottery modalities expressly authorized by the State; any modification of scope, conditions, or validity requires agreement by the Council of Ministers upon proposal from the competent Ministry and with mandatory prior reports (arts. 7.2 and 7.6 RD 358/1991, 2021 wording).
• Advertising and responsible gaming: ONCE's advertising and player recruitment activities are subject to Royal Decree 958/2020, on commercial communications of gaming, which applies to the two state-wide lottery operators. The General Agreement 2022-2031 expressly incorporates ONCE's adaptation to these rules and strengthens its policy of “social, safe, responsible, and solidarity lottery”.
• Player protection measures: recent documentation highlights that ONCE:
  • Expressly prohibits sales to minors and credit gaming.
  • Implements controls to neutralize uncontrolled consumption and is subject to demanding evaluation systems defined by global and European lottery associations.
  • Must verify that winners are not listed in self-exclusion registers before paying prizes, in line with general gaming legislation.

In summary, ONCE is not a free private operator but a public law corporation managing lotteries reserved by law, with broad technical competencies over the design and operation of its games, but always within specific state authorizations, under intense control by the Protectorate Council, and subject to Law 13/2011, Royal Decree 958/2020, and the General Government–ONCE Agreement 2022-2031. Its draws fulfill a dual function: regulated gaming product and main funding source for its social model of care and inclusion of blind and disabled persons.

The taxation of prizes from lotteries and draws in Spain is not governed by a single rule but by a block of general tax legislation (Personal Income Tax and Corporate Tax) and by specific regulations that create a “special tax on prizes from certain lotteries and bets,” in addition to various ministerial orders for management and forms.

1. Basic Personal Income Tax (IRPF) regulations

The central pillar is Law 35/2006, of November 28, on the Personal Income Tax (BOE-A-2006-20764). It regulates:

• The general regime for income and capital gains, to which prizes are assimilated when no special regime applies.
• The exempt incomes (article 7, section l) and related provisions) including certain literary, artistic, or scientific prizes and other prizes with specific exemption.
• Through successive reforms (including Law 26/2014, of November 27, which amends Law 35/2006, BOE-A-2014-12327), various aspects of capital gains and prize taxation have been adjusted.

The regulatory development is contained in Royal Decree 439/2007, of March 30, approving the IRPF Regulation (BOE-A-2007-6820). This regulation specifies:

• The conditions for exemption of certain literary, artistic, or scientific prizes (requirements for calls, publicity, etc.), as well as effects of possible loss of exemption.
• The treatment of non-exempt prizes as irregularly obtained income or gains over time, for base reduction purposes.
• The obligation to withhold or make payments on account on certain taxable prizes.

2. Special tax on prizes from certain lotteries and bets

The specific piece for “official” lottery prizes is Law 16/2012, of December 27, on tax measures (BOE-A-2012-15650), which introduces in the IRPF Law the Thirty-third additional provision: “Special tax on prizes from certain lotteries and bets”.

According to the text transcribed in Law 16/2012:

• This special tax applies, among others, to prizes from lotteries and bets organized by the State Society of Lotteries and State Bets, by competent bodies of autonomous communities, draws of the Spanish Red Cross, and gaming modalities of the ONCE.
• It establishes a specific tax on these prizes, separate from ordinary IRPF, so that the tax applies on the prize amount exceeding the exempt minimum and is implemented through withholding or payment on account.
• Law 16/2012 also adds a fifth additional provision to the Revised Text of the Non-Resident Income Tax Law, subjecting these prizes to an analogous special tax when obtained by non-residents without a permanent establishment.

Subsequently, the exempt minimum and other parameters of the tax have been adjusted through General State Budget laws, including Law 6/2018, of July 3, on the General State Budget for 2018 (BOE-A-2018-9268), which explicitly relates to this tax in normative databases.

3. Corporate Tax and management rules

For Corporate Tax taxpayers, the reference regulation is Law 27/2014, of November 27, on Corporate Tax (BOE-A-2014-12328). Although it does not contain a specific chapter on lottery prizes, prizes obtained by companies:

• Are generally integrated into their tax base as income, unless an exemption or special tax provides otherwise.
• Are subject, when applicable, to the same special tax on lottery and betting prizes, whose withholding is considered a payment on account of the corresponding tax.

The regulatory development is contained in Royal Decree 634/2015, of July 10, approving the Corporate Tax Regulation (BOE-A-2015-7771), which details withholding and information obligations, including prizes and capital gains.

The purely “operational” part (forms and formal obligations) is articulated through several orders:

• Order HAP/70/2013, of January 30 (BOE-A-2013-952): approves, among others, form 230 for self-assessment of withholdings and payments on account of the special tax on prizes from certain lotteries and bets for IRPF, Non-Resident Income Tax, and Corporate Tax, and form 136 for self-assessment of the special tax for individuals and non-residents.
• Order HAP/2368/2013, of December 13 (BOE-A-2013-13228): approves form 270, “Annual summary of withholdings and payments on account. Special tax on prizes from certain lotteries and bets.”
• Order EHA/3127/2009, of November 10 (BOE-A-2009-18567): regulates form 190 for annual summary of withholdings and payments on account on employment income, economic activities, prizes, and certain capital gains.
• Order HAC/593/2002, of March 12 (BOE-A-2002-5418): approves form 183 for informative declaration of certain exempt IRPF prizes, relevant for lottery prizes when fully exempt.

Altogether, these regulations determine which prizes are totally or partially exempt, which part is subject to the special tax, how it is integrated – or not – into the IRPF or Corporate Tax base, and what withholding, payment on account, and declaration obligations apply both to lottery organizers and prize beneficiaries.