WV Raffle License: Types, Fees, and Reporting Rules

To run a raffle legally in West Virginia, your nonprofit needs a WV raffle license from the State Tax Department: $500 for an annual license or $50 for a limited occasion license, filed on Form WV/RAF-1 at least 60 days before ticket sales begin. Smaller fundraisers can skip the license entirely if no single prize tops $4,000 and the organization keeps total raffle proceeds under $15,000 for the year. The governing rules sit in West Virginia Code Chapter 47, Article 21, and the penalties for ignoring them climb into five and six figures.

Do You Actually Need a License?

Start here, because many small fundraisers qualify to run without one. West Virginia Code 47-21-3 lets any charitable or public service organization that has existed in the state for at least one year hold raffles with no license, provided it stays inside two limits:¹

No single prize may exceed $4,000 in value.
Total gross proceeds from all raffle occasions in the calendar year cannot exceed $15,000.

License-exempt groups still have to keep a separate accounting of their raffle operations, hold those records for at least three calendar years, and produce them if the Tax Commissioner asks.¹ If a prize will exceed $4,000, or you expect to clear more than $15,000 across the year, you need to license.

Who Qualifies to Apply

Licenses are limited to what the statute calls a “charitable or public service organization.” The definition is broad: benevolent, educational, philanthropic, patriotic, civic, religious, and fraternal groups, plus volunteer fire departments, rescue units, and similar community service organizations.² The organization must be a bona fide nonprofit, not operated for private gain. Groups organized primarily to influence legislation or promote a single political candidate are excluded.

To apply, your organization must have existed in West Virginia for at least two years.³ It also needs to be registered with the West Virginia Secretary of State and hold a business registration certificate from the Tax Division.⁴ Groups short of the two-year mark can still run license-exempt raffles under the one-year rule described above.

License Types and Fees

There are two main options, and all fees go to the Tax Commissioner. Raffle proceeds are exempt from West Virginia business and occupation, income, excise, sales, and use taxes.⁵

Annual License — $500

The annual license is valid for one year from issuance.⁵ Only one annual license per year is granted to an organization and all its affiliates and auxiliaries combined. Local chapters of a national organization, and individual churches within a nationally organized denomination, count as separate entities, so each can hold its own license.⁶ Joint raffle occasions are not allowed under an annual license.

Limited Occasion License — $50

The limited occasion license covers up to two raffle occasions during a specified period of no more than six months from issuance. An organization and its affiliates may hold up to three limited occasion licenses per year. Two or more organizations can run a joint raffle occasion if each one has its own limited occasion license for the event. If your group already holds an annual license, it may add only one limited occasion license on top.⁷

How to Apply

Applications use Form WV/RAF-1, posted on the State Tax Department’s website.⁸ You’ll need the organization’s federal Employer Identification Number, the full names and home addresses of all officers and board members, and a description of how the proceeds will be used. Every officer must be over 18. If the organization is federally tax-exempt, attach a copy of the IRS determination letter.⁴

Mail the application and fee to:

Business Registration Unit
P.O. Box 2666
Charleston, West Virginia 25330-2666⁴

Then wait. The law imposes a mandatory 60-day gap between the day the Tax Commissioner receives the application and the first raffle occasion, and no tickets may be sold during that window.³ If 60 days pass with no denial and the license still hasn’t arrived, you may treat the application as approved and start selling. The Commissioner has five days to send the license after either approving or letting the 60-day period lapse. Build the fundraising calendar around that buffer.

Rules While the Raffle Is Running

Only West Virginia residents who are active members of the licensed organization may conduct the raffle. Volunteers need to have been meaningfully associated with the organization for at least a year. Paid operators must have been active members in good standing for at least two years, or be employees of the organization meeting certain residency requirements.⁴

Prizes may be cash, real or personal property, or merchandise. Alcohol of any kind is prohibited as a raffle prize. Licensed raffles have no statutory ceiling on individual prize value; the $4,000 cap applies only to license-exempt raffles under Section 47-21-3.⁴

The license must be displayed conspicuously at the location where the raffle is held.⁶ An inspector who shows up and finds nothing on the wall can shut the event down.

Reporting After the Raffle

State Financial Report

Every licensed organization must file Form WV/RAF-3, the Raffle Financial Report, within 30 days after the license expires.⁹ The report must include the name, address, and Social Security number of any individual who received prizes totaling more than $100 at a raffle occasion.¹⁰

If gross receipts from raffle operations exceed $50,000, the financial report must include a compilation or review by a certified or licensed public accountant.¹⁰ If you expect to clear that number, budget the CPA cost up front.

Late filing triggers a penalty of $25 for each month or partial month the report is overdue, capped at $100.¹⁰ The fine is small, but repeated late filing feeds into license suspension or revocation decisions.

Federal Tax Reporting on Prizes

The IRS requires you to issue Form W-2G to a winner when both conditions are met: the prize minus the ticket cost is $600 or more, and the payout is at least 300 times the ticket price.¹¹ The winner’s copy is due by January 31 of the following year; the IRS copy is due by the last day of February.

When the prize minus the ticket cost exceeds $5,000, you must withhold 24% for federal income tax before awarding the prize.¹² Those withheld amounts are remitted on Form 945, due January 31. If a winner won’t give you a taxpayer identification number, backup withholding applies instead.¹¹ Collect name, address, and Social Security number before handing over any prize that hits a reporting threshold.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

A first offense for knowingly violating the raffle statute is a misdemeanor with a fine of $100 to $1,000.¹³ A second or subsequent conviction carries fines from $100 up to $100,000, jail time up to one year, or both.

Separately, the Tax Commissioner may impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for any violation whether or not criminal charges are filed, and may suspend or revoke the license.¹³

The harshest penalties target prohibited electronic or mechanical raffle ticket devices. Possessing an unauthorized device used in a raffle is a felony punishable by one to three years in prison and fines between $50,000 and $100,000 per device for an individual, and between $100,000 and $500,000 per device for an organization. The devices themselves can be seized and destroyed.¹³

A Note on Online Raffles

Online charitable raffles run under a separate statute, Article 21A, with its own requirements for licensing, platform-provider disclosure, and a hyperlink to the Tax Commissioner’s website on every ticket sold.¹⁴ The eligibility, 60-day waiting period, and $4,000/$15,000 exemption limits parallel the in-person rules, but the article is distinct. If you plan to sell tickets online, check Article 21A before applying, and confirm with your payment processor that it will handle raffle sales — many block them as gambling.

1
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 47-21-3 – Authorizing the Conduct of Certain Raffles Without a License
2
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 47-21-2 – Definitions
3
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 47-21-4 – Who May Hold Raffles
4
West Virginia State Tax Department. West Virginia Charitable Raffle and Online Raffle Operators Handbook
5
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 47-21-7 – License Fee and Exemption From Taxes
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West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 47-21-5 – Annual License; Conditions on Holding of Raffles
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West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 47-21-6 – Limited Occasion License; Conditions on Holding of Raffles
8
West Virginia State Tax Department. Application for Annual, Limited and State Fair Raffle License
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West Virginia State Tax Department. Annual, Limited and State Fair Raffle Financial Report
10
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 47-21-22
11
Internal Revenue Service. Tax-Exempt Organizations and Raffle Prizes
12
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms W-2G and 5754
13
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 47-21-20 – Violation of Provisions; Crime; Civil Penalties
14
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code Article 21A – Online Charitable Raffles