l know it says to pay at the end of the year but l was told that it had to be paid now then ill receive the bigger prize

It is a scam, do not pay anything! The phrase ''pay now and get a bigger prize'' is a sure sign of a scam. Anything legal you can pay April 15 of next year with your Federal & state income taxes.

Answer number 1 is absolutely right. Any taxes owed are paid to the IRS with your regular tax return. Do not waste postage or the cost of a phone call to scammers who ask for money beforehand in order for you to receive your ''prize''.

Expounding on previous . If you did not enter the contest yourself, you did not win a prize. l get lots of prize winning notifications but fortunately they go directly to my spam folder.

If u had legitimate winnings that needed to be taxed at the time u received the prize, it would have been deducted at the time. You should never pay taxes on any income u have not received. That is a scam. When u r handed larger winnings, it will show, Federal & State (if applicable) tax withholding. Your winning ''stub'' is called a W-9.

The reason u r given the W-9 is because at tax time, u may have actual losses to put up against any thing u won, & possibly be entitled to a larger refund. Never count money u do not have, & never pay taxes on anything unless u have it in ownership.

Please report this scam to the IRS or Justice Department. irs.gov/fraud/reportingfraudulentactivities

It is a spam.
You can pay tax when you file your tax return in 2009.

Sounds like a scam.

If it is a legitimate prize & not a scam, they'd take any taxes due out of ur prize, send that to the IRS & send u the rest. If u owe additional tax, you'd pay it directly to the IRS, with either a form 1040ES or with ur tax return, not through the people u r getting the prize from. If u r being asked to send THEM money to claim ur prize, it is a scam & there is not really any prize, they're just trying to steal ur money that u send them. Do NOT send or wire them any money.