After no winning tickets were drawn Friday night, the Mega Millions jackpot reached $740 million, the eighth-largest in lottery history. A lucky winner, facing one-in-302-million odds, could take home less than one-third of that amount after taxes.
The jackpot winner who matches all five white balls and one “megaball” can choose a 30-year payout or $342.9 million in one go.
The winnings would drop to $260.6 million with a mandatory 24% federal tax withholding, or $216 million with a federal marginal rate of 37%, depending on the winner's taxable income and other tax deductions.
Annual installments at 37% federal rate would average $15.5 million. Lottery winnings are taxed 10.9% in New York ($32.4 million) and 2.5% in Arizona ($7.4 million), but not in California or Texas.
Next Mega Millions drawing is Tuesday night. The next Powerball drawing is Saturday night for $45 million. The grand prize includes a $21 million lump sum option, which would be reduced to $15.9 million after 24% mandatory tax withholding or $13.2 million with a 37% federal marginal rate.
Eighth-largest Mega Millions jackpot ever. Six of the top seven grand prizes exceeded $1 billion, including a March $1.1 billion jackpot. The last Mega Millions drawing in September won $810 million, the seventh-largest ever.
1.2M. That many non-jackpot tickets were drawn Friday night, including one that won $3 million.