Some Twitter users calculated what the value of the Mega Millions jackpot would be after tax — and the results are disappointing.
The Mega Millions grand prize shot up to $1.35 billion after Tuesday’s night’s drawing passed with no official winner.
The prize is the second largest in history, but a number of investing and finance gurus on Twitter estimated that the eventual winner would be taking home far less than $1 billion when all is said and done.
MEGA MILLIONS $1 BILLION-PLUS LOTTERY JACKPOT: WILL WINNING MAKE YOU HAPPIER OR NOT?
One thing that multiple Twitter users agreed on was that the IRS would win out no matter what.
"The only guaranteed winner in tonight's $1.1 billion Mega Millions drawing is the IRS," Grit Capital CEO Genevieve Roch-Decter tweeted on Monday. "They'll collect at least $200 million immediately if the winner selects the $568m immediate cash payout."
"CONGRATS to the IRS for winning the $846.3MM Mega Millions lottery!" investing outlet Market Rebellion tweeted alongside a picture of a Forbes article headlined "Winner Of $1.28 Billion Lottery Gets $433.7 Million After Tax."
Business author Jared Dillian did an in-depth estimate of the full lottery earnings. "The Mega Millions jackpot is $1.1B. The cash value is $568.7mm. Assuming a 45% tax rate, that leaves you with about $313mm. If you took the cash option and put it in T-bills yielding 4.5%, you would make about $14 million a year, or $38,500/day. Think you could live on that?"
MEGA MILLIONS $1.28B JACKPOT LURES PLAYERS TO THE 'LUCKIEST' 7-ELEVEN
TikTok influencer Kyland Young called for Americans to boycott the lottery this year. "What’s messed up is that you actually get a payout of like 300 and something million dollars. That’s so messed up and I think that we need to let the government [and] let the lotto know how pissed off we are about this unfair system."
"Nobody buy lotto tickets," Young said.
"So just grab your wallet, put it in your pocket, leave it there and we’ll make sure they know how we feel about this messed up tax system."
Virginia Senate member Lionell Spruill, Sr. tweeted Monday that a new bill he introduced and helped pass will prevent the winner’s name from being released to the public, assuming that person is in the state.
"Thanks to the bill I got passed, if you win, shh, you ain’t gotta tell nobody."
"Good luck," he added.
