When I say someone won $2.04 billion, I mean the government won and it gave a consolation prize to the citizen who drew the Willy Wonka ticket.
Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in Southern California has won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot after more than three months without anyone hitting the top prize.
The winning numbers drawn Tuesday morning at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee were: white balls 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, and the red Powerball was 10.
Powerball Product Group Chair Drew Svitko issued this statement:
Congratulations, to the lucky ticket holder in California and the millions of other Powerball players who won other prizes in the drawing. On behalf of participating lotteries, I would like to thank our players who joined us on this historic jackpot run. A portion of every Powerball ticket purchased will stay in your state to support your local communities.
The winner can either receive all $2.04 billion over 29 years or take $997.6 million as a cash payout.
Then come the taxes.
The federal government automatically takes 24% in a withholding tax, but that would bump up to 37% in total income tax when they file their taxes for the year.
Then there's the state taxes. Amazingly, California actually doesn't tax lotto winnings (some states take up to 8%), but it does have a 13.3% tax for the highest income bracket.
Oh, and any interest the money makes also gets taxed.
