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COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — The Mega Millions jackpot is once again growing to epic proportions, but as in past lotteries, the eventual winner’s total payout will be much less across the country and in Ohio.
The next drawing is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 6 with a current jackpot of $740 million, the seventh-largest in Mega Millions history . However, depending on where the winner lives, how they choose to receive their prize and how many other players also pick the winning numbers all influence how much money the winner or winners will receive.
Mega Millions (and Powerball) winners can claim their prize as an annuity or in one lump cash payment. The cash option is generally considered the amount of money necessary to fund the annuity option, which amounts to a one-time payment followed by 29 annual payments that grow by 5% each time. If the winner doesn’t want to wait to be paid out annually in small chunks with the annuity, they will go the cash route.
In Friday’s drawing, the annuity is worth an estimated $740 million with a cash option of roughly $366.3 million. Neither selection will reach these payouts because of taxes.
Every state lottery must withhold 25% of federal income taxes from a jackpot this large. With additional withholdings, the jackpot winner will see 37% in taxes or more pulled from their payout. The total amount of taxes depends on where the winner lives .
According to an analysis by USA Mega , the largest cash payout a winner could collect in Friday’s Mega Millions drawing is about $230.8 million, while the largest annuity is about $467.5 million.
Outside of the states that do not have a tax on lottery prizes , the next best payout would be in Arizona at about $221.7 million in cash or $449 million in annuity. In New York, the state with the highest lottery withholdings, the payouts would be around $190.9 million in cash or $386.8 million in annuity. Ohioans fair somewhere on the high end of the middle with a state lottery tax withholding of 4%, giving Buckeyes a cash payout of $218 million and an annuity payout of about $441.6 million.
The interactive map below shows roughly how much the annuity and cash payouts would be in each state, according to USA Mega’s analysis.
Those calculations also don't account for the possibility of multiple winners. While the odds of winning Mega Millions' top prize are 1 in 302.6 million, there is a chance that several tickets in Friday's drawing could match all six winning numbers.
Two of the largest jackpots in the game's history — a $656 million prize in 2012 and a $648 million prize in 2013 — were split among three and two winners, respectively. Late last year, two Mega Millions tickets sold at the same gas station in Encino, California, won a $394 million jackpot, where there is no state lottery tax.
The most recent Mega Millions winner in Ohio, according to the Ohio Lottery, was on Tuesday, August 20. Even though the top prize was not won, a woman from Louisville, Ohio, near Canton, used the auto-pick feature to choose her numbers. She managed to match four of the five white balls and the Mega Ball, winning $10,000. By adding the Megaplier to her ticket, the $10,000 prize was quadrupled, resulting in a total prize of $40,000.
Regardless of the amount winners get to pocket, experts recommend keeping tickets safe and building a team of financial pros before coming forward to claim the prize.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Tickets are $2 and there are nine ways to win a prize. Drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. ET.
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