Lottery players will try their lucky at an enormous $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot on Tuesday — one of the largest in the game’s history — despite the low chances of winning it all.
If one person chooses all five winning numbers and the Mega Ball, they’ll have two options: to take one lump sum payment or annuities, which would be dished out in 30 increments over 29 years.
Regardless of which option you take, you’ll have to pay taxes — so unfortunately, the prize won’t be as high as you originally thought. A single winner who chose the cash option, the more popular choice of the two, would receive $401.2 million after paying 24% in federal taxes, which in this instance amounts to $126.7 million.
While some states don’t have additional taxes on lottery wins, others like Illinois do, with some exceeding 8%. In Illinois, lottery wins are subject to a 4.95% tax — similar to gambling earnings. Given that, you’d have to pay an additional $26.13 million, lowering the prize amount to $375.07 million, according to the lottery analysis website usamega.com.
The win pushes you up an additional 13% into the highest federal tax bracket of 37%, meaning you could have to pay an extra $68,589,955 in taxes. If that’s the case, you would be left with 306.48 million when all is said and done.
However, your total may differ based on tax mitigation strategies and other factors. The less popular annuity option would have you give up $12.5 million in federal taxes, bringing your winnings down to an average of $22.08 million. Factoring in Illinois’ 4.95% tax, the final average payment would be $20.35 million.
Soruce : https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/mega-millions-jackpot-soars-to-1-05b-heres-how-much-you-would-bring-home-after-taxes-in-illinois/3197859/