If the winner were to take the lump-sum cash option of $403.8 million, the federal tax withholding would be $96.9 million — and more likely would be owed.
Mega Millions players may be daydreaming about what they’d do with an extra $785 million, the game’s current jackpot amount.
One way they should count on using it if they win? Sharing a slice with the IRS.
After no tickets matched all six numbers drawn Friday night, the jackpot climbed again, marking the fourth time in the game’s history that the top prize has gone above $700 million, according to Mega Millions officials. In the previous three instances, those jackpots ended up being worth more than $1 billion when they were won.
Of course, the advertised amount is only what you’d get if you were to choose to take your winnings as an annuity spread over three decades.
