The Winner Of The Mega Millions $1.28 Billion Will Only Get To Keep About $433 Million After Taxes

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I’ll never forget watching gameshows with my parents as a kid, or seeing signs of the Mega Millions and telling my dad:

“Man, could you even imagine winning all that money?”

He always gave me a reminder that the government is gonna tax the everlivin’ bejesus out of whoever wins that money, and the winners only get a percentage of the money.

Of course, I never really had any idea of exactly how much money was taken out of those winnings from taxes, but after reading this, my mind is absolutely boggled.

One lucky winner in Illinois recently hit the jackpot with the $1.28 billion in the Mega Millions lottery, the second largest total in Mega Millions history, according to Forbes.

However, if you want the money right away, you only get to keep $747.2 million.

Yeah, only…. that’s still enough money to live comfortably for generations. I think any American on this planet would still be perfectly content with $747.2 million, but little did I know, the lump sum dwindled even more after the initial tax.

After the $742.2 million, the IRS hits you with a 24% withholding tax, dropping the total to $567,872,000.

On top of that, the state of Illinois has a 4.95% state income tax, which takes off another whopping $37 million off the $567 million, which means the winner of the Mega Millions will only keep about $433.7 million.

I know, I know, $433.7 million is way more than enough to never have to worry about money again, but I can’t help to think about the people who’ve won far less money off the Mega Millions in the past, and how their winnings probably weren’t even in the ballpark of what they thought they’d won.

If you live in a state with a large income tax, good luck.

The government, man…

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