The Mega Millions jackpot reaches $740 million

Topline

The Mega Millions jackpot has reached an estimated $740 million, the eighth-largest prize in the lottery’s history, after no winning tickets were drawn on Friday evening, although one lucky winner – at odds of one in 302 million – took home less could take a third of this amount after paying the required taxes.

The win is the eighth largest in the lottery’s history.

AFP via Getty Images

Important facts

The ticket holder who correctly places all five white balls and a “mega ball” for the jackpot can choose between a payout in 30 annual installments or a one-time lump sum of $342.9 million.

A mandatory federal tax withholding of 24% would reduce the winnings to $260.6 million, while a federal marginal tax rate of up to 37% – depending on the winner’s taxable income and other tax deductions – would reduce the winnings to $216 million.

Annual installments would pay an average of $15.5 million at a federal interest rate of 37%.

Some states also tax lottery winnings, with rates as high as 10.9% in New York ($32.4 million) and as low as 2.5% in Arizona ($7.4 million), while other states like California or Texas not charging taxes on winnings.

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What you should pay attention to

The next Mega Millions drawing will take place on Tuesday evening. Powerball is holding its next drawing on Saturday evening with a jackpot of $45 million. This grand prize includes a lump sum payment option of $21 million, which would be reduced to $15.9 million after a mandatory 24% tax withholding or to $13.2 million at a federal marginal tax rate of up to 37% .

Surprising fact

The jackpot is the eighth largest in Mega Millions history. Six of the top seven top prizes exceeded $1 billion, including a $1.1 billion jackpot won in March. The most recent drawing in September resulted in a prize of $810 million, the seventh largest in Mega Millions history.

Big number

1.2 million. That’s how many non-jackpot winning tickets were drawn Friday night, including one ticket that won $3 million.

Important background

Further rule changes to the Mega Millions lottery will offer players “bigger jackpots, better odds of winning” and new rewards, the lottery announced in October. The changes include removing one of the “Mega Balls” from the draw, improving the odds of winning from one in 25 to one in 24, the start of a larger jackpot, the introduction of a “random” multiplier for non-jackpot prizes and no pause -Even prizes, meaning a player could win at least $10 if they hit a “Mega Ball”. The Powerball lottery was last won on December 7th by a ticket holder in New York. This drawing included a grand prize of $256 million and a flat prize option of $123.5 million.

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