Topline
The Mega Millions jackpot rose to $575 million—the second biggest lottery prize of the year so far—after no tickets matched all six numbers drawn on Tuesday night, although the eventual winner will take home a much smaller payout after paying their taxes.
The Mega Millions jackpot is now the second biggest lottery prize of the year so far.
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Key Facts
If a winner emerges in the next draw, they can pick between taking the $575 million jackpot spread over 30 annualized payments or a one-time lump sum cash payout of $264.6 million—the preferred option for most winners.
If the lump sum payout is chosen, the winnings will first drop to $201.1 million after a mandatory federal withholding of 24% is applied.
The winner could then face a federal marginal rate as high as 37%, depending on their taxable income, which would further reduce their winnings to approximately $166.7 million.
If the winner picks the installment route, their annual payments of around $19.16 million would drop to $12.1 million if the 37% federal marginal rate is applied.
The winner may also face additional taxes from their state of residence, as some states, such as New York, tax lottery winnings at 10.9%, while others, such as Texas, Florida, and California, don’t.
Big Number
1-in-290.4 million. Those are the astronomical odds a Mega Millions ticket buyer will have to overcome to win the big prize. This, however, represents a slight improvement over the competition’s earlier odds of 1 in 302.5 million, prior to Mega Millions’ implementation of major changes that also enhanced the odds of winning smaller prizes.
What To Watch For
The next Mega Millions lottery drawing is scheduled for Friday night. The Powerball jackpot currently stands at $223 million, and the next drawing is set to take place on Wednesday night.
Key Background
Last month, two Powerball ticket buyers from Missouri and Texas split a $1.78 billion jackpot, the second-largest lottery prize ever and the biggest of the year by far. The current Mega Millions jackpot has now eclipsed a $526.5 million prize won—the second-biggest so far—by a Powerball ticket buyer from California in March. The biggest Mega Millions prize claimed so far was a $349 million jackpot won by an Illinois resident in March.
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