Topline
The Mega Millions jackpot rose to $680 million – the second-largest lottery prize of the year so far – after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Tuesday night, although the eventual winner will take home a much smaller payout after paying his taxes.
The Mega Millions jackpot rose to $680 million after Tuesday’s drawing.
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Key facts
The six numbers drawn on Tuesday evening were 2, 18, 27, 34, 59 and Mega Ball 18.
If a winner emerges in the next drawing, they will be able to choose between winning the $680 million prize, spread over 30 annual installments, or a one-time cash payout of $318.2 million – the preferred option for most winners.
If the cash prize is chosen, winnings will first drop to $241.8 million after a mandatory 24% federal withholding 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 about $200.5 million.
If the winner chooses the repayment route, their annual payments would drop from about $22.66 million to $14.3 million after the 37% federal marginal rate is applied.
The winner may also face additional taxes from the state of residence, as some states, such as New York, tax lottery winnings at 10.9%, while others, such as Texas, Florida and California, do not.
Surprising fact
A Mega Millions ticket buyer will have to overcome astronomical odds of 1 in 290.4 million to win the jackpot. This is a slight improvement over the lottery competition’s previous odds of 1 in 302.5 million. Earlier this year, Mega Millions made big changes that also increased the chances of winning smaller prizes.
What to pay attention to
The next Mega Millions lottery drawing is scheduled for Friday evening. There will be a drawing for the Powerball jackpot on Wednesday evening, with the jackpot prize currently at $320 million.
What do we know about recent lottery jackpot winners?
Last month, two Powerball ticket buyers from Missouri and Texas shared the second-largest lottery prize ever after winning a $1.78 billion jackpot. The current Mega Millions jackpot has now eclipsed a $526.5 million prize won in March by a Powerball ticket buyer from California. The largest Mega Millions prize claimed to date was a $349 million jackpot won by an Illinois resident in March.
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