Mega Millions player wins historic $1.58 billion jackpot

originally posted by: PorkChop96
a reply to: AlienBorg

The following screenshot is from YOUR link. Notice how the final number after taxes equals out to about 35% of the original number? Well OMG, that would mean the total tax/fee rate is about 65%.

Not sure how many other ways I can lay this out for you to understand?

And regardless of the taxes and fees, the lottery is not meant to be a charity. Not everyone is going to win, that's how it works. If you don't like it, you don't have to play it.

The lump sum is different from the total in case you decide not to go with the lump sum but with the actual amount.

If the $707.9 million cash option was taken, the winner would pay $261.9 million in federal taxes and take home $446 million

That's if you decide to go with the lump sum. The total is $1.35 billion. If you decide to go with the $1.35 billion you will be paid much more (around 1 billion dollars) rather than $446 million. This figure applies to the cash payout and not to the total which you can still get in around 30 years. So your calculations are not correct because the tax isn't as high as you have put it.

Regardless of which option the player takes, the IRS takes a minimum 24% federal withholding tax upfront on lottery winnings. That's a big chunk out of either payment choice. If the total $1.35 billion payout is chosen:

Federal taxes: $324 million
Take-home: $1.026 billion (by 2051)

And you seem to have forgotten this one for the smaller prizes of $1m

In practice, there is a 24 percent federal withholding of the gross prize, plus the remaining tax, based on your filing status. For example, if your gross prize is $1,000,000, you need to pay $334,072 in total taxes ($240,000 federal withholding, plus the remaining $94,072 for single filing status in 2021).

a reply to: AlienBorg

I give you numbers from your source and you're still arguing?

No matter the size of the prize, if you take the lump sum (95% of people do), 40-50% of the gross is taken immediately before taxes are even taken out. That figure is given to the state the winning ticket was sold in.


The lump sum percentage you get and then taxes till take affect on a smaller prize......smh

Not sure why you are fighting so hard to prove math wrong that has been laid out and proven BY YOUR SOURCE. If you want to be obtuse on the matter that is up to you.

I will say this one more time; The lottery is not a charity so that everyone can win. It is an odds game that you play to have a chance at winning. If someone wants something where everyone wins, go play youth soccer and get a participation trophy. And if you don't like how the game is played, don't play it. Simple as that

a reply to: PorkChop96

If you decide to go for the full amount then you will be receiving approximately $34m per year. You will receive over $446m in the 12th year after winning. Anything after that exceeds the sum you will get if you have accepted the cash payout.

I would have gone for the full amount.
Btw not every state taxes winnings.

originally posted by: PorkChop96
a reply to: AlienBorg

I give you numbers from your source and you're still arguing?

No matter the size of the prize, if you take the lump sum (95% of people do), 40-50% of the gross is taken immediately before taxes are even taken out. That figure is given to the state the winning ticket was sold in.


The lump sum percentage you get and then taxes till take affect on a smaller prize......smh

Not sure why you are fighting so hard to prove math wrong that has been laid out and proven BY YOUR SOURCE. If you want to be obtuse on the matter that is up to you.

I will say this one more time; The lottery is not a charity so that everyone can win. It is an odds game that you play to have a chance at winning. If someone wants something where everyone wins, go play youth soccer and get a participation trophy. And if you don't like how the game is played, don't play it. Simple as that

And I have corrected your interpretation

If the $707.9 million cash option was taken, the winner would pay $261.9 million in federal taxes and take home $446 million

You get $446m if you go for the lump sum which is is $707.9m

You don't get $446m if you go for the full amount which is paid in 30 years.
You get around $1billion over 30 years

Regardless of which option the player takes, the IRS takes a minimum 24% federal withholding tax upfront on lottery winnings. That's a big chunk out of either payment choice. If the total $1.35 billion payout is chosen:

Federal taxes: $324 million
Take-home: $1.026 billion (by 2051)

Who says you must choose the lump sum??
Again you're wrong. The $446m is the money you get if you accept the lump sum of $707.9m. if not then you get around 1 billion.

You have misinterpreted the diagram.

a reply to: AlienBorg

The numbers I gave, that are correct, apply to the lump sum, which is exactly what we were discussing. Not the installments that only 5% of winners choose.

The diagram speaks for itself and even proves my math correct, give or take a few percentage. There is no misinterpreting a picture that displays the actual payouts.

Even if you take the payments, you're still being taxed over 50% of the gross jackpot.


But I can tell I am only wasting my time trying to explain this the simplest way I possibly can, so I will just excuse myself from this thread.

originally posted by: PorkChop96
a reply to: AlienBorg

The numbers I gave, that are correct, apply to the lump sum, which is exactly what we were discussing. Not the installments that only 5% of winners choose.

The diagram speaks for itself and even proves my math correct, give or take a few percentage. There is no misinterpreting a picture that displays the actual payouts.

Even if you take the payments, you're still being taxed over 50% of the gross jackpot.


But I can tell I am only wasting my time trying to explain this the simplest way I possibly can, so I will just excuse myself from this thread.

I wasn't just discussing the lump sum but the whole amount.

$1.35 billion is the whole amount you can claim in a period of 30 years. After tax is about $1 billion.

But anyway, let's finish this conversation.

if they don't choose anonymity and lump sum payment; Where all the taxes are taken out? Then they haven't researched; How to remove the lottery curse.

The best thing to do with that amount even after taxes are removed from lump sum?

Is donate a new wing to a college and start a credit union with student discounts that attend there with lending levels and discounts based on their collegiate efforts.

a reply to: AlienBorg
Prior national projects have no bearing on a voluntary gambling game. The rules of the game are outlined. Either you create a new game with new rules, or create an NGO to lobby legislators in multiple states to initiate some kind of streamlined new payout system in where there is never a real jackpot, but simply every dollar put in is paid back out by lowering th threshold for a win. This process defeats the entire purpose of gambling, as has been repeatedly stated. Buy payout potential for small buyin.

This has nothing to do with mobilizing national resources or the capability to do so. It is a simple matter of breaking this down to the basics. A gambling racket has to be profitable. That means most people will lose. If you want everyone to not lose, then what your suggesting is not a gambling operation.

It's this simple.