second all-time for Mega Millions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nOhio Lottery Director Pat McDonald, who is also the lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said there is no better way to kick off the new year.<\/p>\n
“Thank you to all our retailers for their hard work during this spectacular run, and our customers for their enthusiasm and support. I hope the fun and excitement Mega Millions has generated inspires a winning attitude in our daily lives and towards everyone we meet. Here’s to a good year,” McDonald said in a release.<\/p>\n
Big Tax Bill Coming<\/b><\/h2>\n The nation’s newest billionaire — pretax, of course — will need to come forward and reveal their identity at some point. Maine is not one of the 11 states that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n
The winner’s newfound wealth will begin with a major tax bill. Maine levies one of the highest lottery taxes in the country, as winnings are subject to an effective tariff of 7.15%.<\/strong><\/p>\nOnly eight states and DC tax lottery wins higher: Maryland (8.95%), Massachusetts (9%), Minnesota (7.25%), New Jersey (8%), New York (8.82%), Oregon (9.9%), Vermont (8.75%), Washington, DC (10.75%), and Wisconsin (7.65%).<\/p>\n
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If the winner opts for the cash option, which is the payout of choice for most Mega Millions jackpot winners, the $724.6 million haul will be immediately reduced by about $268 million by the effective 37% federal tax. The remaining $465.5 million would then be hit by Maine’s 7.15% tax, which would drop the net disbursement to about $404.7 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Should the winner choose the full value of the 30-year annuity, the yearly check after federal and state taxes would be about $25.16 million. Over the life of the annuity, the full value of the win would come to $755 million.<\/p>\n
Secondary Winners<\/b><\/h2>\n Friday’s drawing wasn’t good only for the lucky winner in Maine. Mega Millions reported that more than seven million tickets won some sort of prize.<\/p>\n
Fourteen tickets matched all five white balls to win $1 million each, while 164 tickets matched four white balls and the gold Mega Ball to win $10,000. Twenty-seven of those tickets purchased the $1 add-on Megaplier to double their prize to $20,000, as the Megaplier hit on 2x last night.<\/strong><\/p>\nNearly 4.7 million tickets matched only the gold Mega Ball to simply win back their $2 bet. But 828,701 tickets had the Megaplier to profit a couple of bucks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Mega Millions jackpot evaded players for 25 consecutive drawings. But the streak came to an end last night when a lucky player in Maine won the fourth-largest lottery prize in US history. The $1.35 billion win is payable over a 30-year annuity. The winner can also opt for a one-time cash distribution of $724.6 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":253625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,13699],"tags":[82508,13701,81996],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Mega Millions Finds a Winner, $1.35B Ticket Sold in Maine<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n