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If you’re playing the $810 million Mega Millions lottery on Tuesday night, July 26, then you’ll likely want to know how just how much money you’ll take home after taxes if you win. The exact amount will vary depending on your state’s income tax. Here is how much the payout will be tonight by state and how much you would actually take home after taxes.
How Much Would You Take Home if You Won $810 Million?
If the jackpot is $810 million, just how much will you actually be taking home?
The $810 million (or whatever the total is once all the tickets are sold) is the total amount you would be paid if you took the yearly payout option before taxes. You won’t be paid more than $800 million immediately if you win. Instead, the winnings are spread out over 30 annual payments for 29 years, starting with one immediate payment. Each year’s payment is a small percentage (currently 5%) bigger than the previous to help protect against inflation.
If you take the lump-sum cash option, you’ll get a one-time payment instead. Mega Millions currently estimates the cash option to be $470.1 million if the prize is $810 million. Remember, this is also before taxes.
How Much Do You Win After Tax Per State?
How much you take home is also subject to income tax. Exactly how much is taken out depends on where you live, and whether you’re subject to a federal income tax only or a federal and state income tax (and in some cases, local taxes too.)
You can use Lottery Critic’s Mega Millions Payout Calculator to help estimate what your winnings would actually be. To use this calculator, you’ll need to enter the jackpot amount and then the state that you are in.
An after-tax calculator is available at USA Mega’s jackpot analysis page. The page gives two sets of results, one based on an $810 million annuity and the other on a $470,100,000 lump-sum payout.
To start, everyone will lose 24% via federal taxes. If you’re taking 30 average annual payments of $27 million, then you’ll lose about $6.48 million each time in federal tax, plus an additional $3.472 million in additional federal taxes, leaving you with a take-home amount of about $17,047,045 each year ($17.047 million) after federal taxes. In other words, if a state doesn’t have any state income tax, this is the approximate yearly take-home.
If you take a lump sum, you’ll lose a total of $112.824 million upfront in federal taxes, plus another $61 million from additional federal taxes, for a total of about $296.2 million after just federal taxes alone.
Below is an estimate of what you would take home per state after state taxes, as calculated and presented by USA Mega. Please note that the amounts below are not guaranteed, and might also not include local taxes if relevant. These are also averages per year, not including an estimated inflation increase.
- Arizona: 4.5% tax for in-state residents: $15.832 million a year or $274.045 million cash in a lump sum (Note: There’s a 6% tax for non-Arizona residents)
- Arkansas: 5.5% state tax: $15.56 million per year or $270.344 million cash lump sum
- California: No state tax on lottery winnings
- Colorado: 4% state tax (with a final 4.55% due to additional state taxes): $15.818 million per year or $274.810 million cash in one lump sum
- Connecticut: 6.99% state tax: $15.159 million per year or $263.340 million cash in one lump sum
- Delaware: No state tax, but additional state taxes lead to a 6.6% tax rate: $15.265 million per year or $265.173 million cash lump sum
- Florida: No state tax
- Georgia: 5.75% tax: $15.494 million per year or $269.169 million cash in one lump sum
- Idaho: 6.5% tax: $15.292 million per year or $265.643 million cash in one lump sum
- Illinois: 4.95% state tax: $15.710 million per year or $272.93 million cash in one lump sum
- Indiana: 3.23% state tax: $16.174 million per year or $281.015 million cash in one lump sum
- Iowa: 5% tax (but additional taxes bring an 8.53% final rate): $14.743 million a year or $256.100 million cash in one lump sum
- Kansas: 5% tax (but additional taxes bring it to a 5.7% tax rate): $15.508 million a year or $269.404 million cash in one lump sum
- Kentucky: 5% tax: $15.697 million a year or $272.695 million cash in one lump sum
- Louisiana: 4.75% tax: $15.764 million a year or $273.870 million cash in a lump sum
- Maine: 5% tax (but additional taxes bring it to a 7.15% final tax): $15.116 million a year or $262.587 million cash in one lump sum
- Maryland: 8.95% state tax for in-state residents: $14.63 million per year or $254.126 million cash in one lump sum.
- Massachusetts: 5% tax: $15.697 million a year or $272.695 million cash in one lump sum
- Michigan: 4.25% tax: $15.899 million a year or $276.220 million cash in one lump sum
- Minnesota: 7.25% state tax (with additional taxes raising it to 9.85%): $14.387 million a year or $249.895 million cash in one lump sum
- Mississippi: 5% state tax: $15.697 million a year or $272.695 million cash in one lump sum
- Missouri: 4% state tax (but additional taxes bring it up to 5.4% tax): $15.589 million per year or $270.814 million cash in one lump sum
- Montana: 6.9% tax: $15.184 million a year or $263.763 million in one cash lump sum
- Nebraska: 5% tax (but other taxes bring it to 6.84%): $15.2 million a year or $264.045 million cash in one lump sum
- New Hampshire: No state tax on lottery prizes
- New Jersey: 8% state tax (but additional taxes raise it to 10.75%): $14.144 million per year or $245.664 million lump sum for one cash payment
- New Mexico: 5.9% tax: $15.454 million a year or $268.464 million cash in a lump sum
- New York: 8.82% tax (but additional taxes raise it to 10.9%): $14.104 million per year or $244.959 million cash in a lump sum
- North Carolina: 4.99% tax: $15.699 million a year or $272.742 million cash in a lump sum
- North Dakota: 2.9% tax: $16.264 million a year or $282.567 million cash in a lump sum
- Ohio: 4.797% state tax: $15.751 million per year or $273.649 million cash in a lump sum
- Oklahoma: 4.75% state tax: $15.764 million a year or $273.870 million cash in a lump sum
- Oregon: 8% state tax (but additional taxes raise it to 9.9%): $14.374 million per year or $249.66 million lump sum for one cash payment
- Pennsylvania: 3.07% tax: $16.218 million a year or $281.767 million cash in one lump payment
- Rhode Island: 5.99% tax: $15.429 million a year or $268.041 million cash in one lump payment
- South Carolina: 7% state tax: $15.157 million per year or $263.293 million cash
- South Dakota: no state taxes
- Tennessee: No state taxes
- Texas: No state taxes
- U.S. Virgin Islands: Not known
- Vermont: 6% tax (but additional taxes bring it to 8.75%): $14.684 million a year or $255.066 million cash in a lump sum
- Virginia: 4% state tax (but additional state taxes bring it to 5.75%): $15.494 million per year or $269.169 million cash in one lump sum
- Washington: No state tax
- Washington D.C.: 10.75% tax: $14.144 million a year or $245.664 million cash in one lump sum
- West Virginia: 6.5% tax: $15.292 million per year or $265.643 million cash in one lump sum
- Wisconsin: 7.65% tax: $14.981 million a year or $260.237 million cash in one lump sum
- Wyoming: No state tax
Remember also that if more than one person wins the lottery, you’ll be splitting the prize, which will make what you take home even less.