The Mega Millions jackpot is up to $607 million after no winning tickets were drawn Tuesday night, making the prize the eighth-largest in the lottery’s history, though a lucky winner—facing one-in-302-million odds—would take home less than half that amount after paying required taxes.
The jackpot is the eighth-largest in Mega Millions history.
A ticket holder matching all five white balls and one “megaball” for the grand prize can choose between a payout over 30 annual installments or a one-time lump sum of $286.9 million.
A mandatory 24% federal tax withholding would reduce the lump sum to $218 million, and a federal marginal rate as high as 37%—depending on the winner’s taxable income and other tax deductions—could cut the winnings down to $180.7 million.
If the winner chooses the less popular annual installment option, the 37% federal marginal rate would reduce payments to an average of about $12.7 million per year.
Lottery winnings are taxed in some states, with rates as low as 2.5% in Arizona ($7.1 million) to as high as 10.9% in New York ($31.2 million), though other states like California or Texas don’t tax winnings.
1 million. That’s how many non-jackpot winning tickets were drawn for Tuesday’s drawing, including one ticket that matched all five white balls for a $1 million prize. There have been more than 15 million winning tickets for non-jackpot prizes since the jackpot was last won in December.
The next Mega Millions drawing will be held Friday at 11 p.m. EST.
Powerball will hold its drawing for a $412 million jackpot later on Wednesday. That prize includes an option for an upfront $195.5 million lump sum, which would be reduced to $148.5 million after a 24% federal tax withholding or to $123.1 million after a 37% federal marginal rate.
The Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries changed their rules in 2017 and increased the pool of white balls to choose from. That made it harder to win the grand prize for either lottery, resulting in the largest lottery prizes in U.S. history being won over the last eight years. The Mega Millions jackpot has eclipsed $1 billion five times over the last six years, including a $1.6 billion prize won late last year.
Here’s Why There Have Been So Many Massive Jackpots Recently (Forbes)