Lottery jackpot records

Lottery jackpot records have always attracted attention of lottery analysts and players. It is generally believed that Spanish Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad is the world's largest lottery. However, as every number entered is printed on 170 tickets which are usually sold in fractions (usually tenths), the El Gordo prizes are usually split between multiple winners.

United States

All lottery winnings are subject to Federal taxes; many smaller jurisdictions also levy taxes. The IRS requires at least a 25% withholding of any gambling wins in excess of $5,000. However, the net for a major jackpot winner is often misleading. Winners often find themselves in a tax bracket much greater than 25%, often paying additional to the IRS when they file their returns.

All lump-sum prizes listed below are reported as the pre-tax amount, as this is the income the player earned and must report on their returns to be subject to taxation. Jackpot amounts are reported as the annuity payout.

List of Largest U.S. lottery Jackpots: $250 Million and Higher

• $390 million, Mega Millions, won March 6, 2007, by 2 tickets, in Georgia and New Jersey. (Cash payout of $233.1 million, second largest in American lottery history). This was the largest jackpot in American lottery history.
• $380 million, Mega Millions, won January 4, 2011, by Jim and Carolyn McCullar of Ephrata, Washington, and Holly Lahti of Rathdrum, Idaho. (Cash payout of $240 million, largest in American lottery history). This was the second largest jackpot in American lottery history.
• $365 million, Powerball, won February 18, 2006, in Nebraska. Biggest win ever for a single ticket. It was shared by eight persons who worked for a ConAgra meatpacking plant.
• $363 million, The Big Game (precursor of Mega Millions), won May 9, 2000, by 2 tickets, in Illinois and Michigan.
• $340 million, Powerball, won October 19, 2005, in Oregon. The lump sum value, $164.4 million, was chosen by the Chaney and West families in Oregon. The reason this cash payout is lower than Whittaker's despite a $24 million larger annuity is due to a change in the game's annuity structure, and flexible interest rates.
• $336.4 million, Powerball, won February 11, 2012, by 1 ticket, in Rhode Island. (Cash option payout of $202.9 million, largest in Powerball history.)
• $336 million, Mega Millions, won August 28, 2009, by 2 tickets, in New York and California.
• $331 million, The Big Game, won April 16, 2002, by 3 tickets, in Georgia, Illinois and New Jersey.
• $330 million, Mega Millions, won August 31, 2007, by 4 tickets, in New Jersey, Maryland, Texas and Virginia.
• $319 million, Mega Millions, won March 25, 2011, by 1 ticket, in New York.
• $315 million, Mega Millions, won November 15, 2005, by a group called "The Lucky 7", in Anaheim, California, Choosing cash, their prize was $175 million.
• $314.9 million, Powerball, won December 25, 2002, by Andrew J. Whittaker Jr., in West Virginia. Opting for the lump sum, as with most winners, his prize was $170,505,876
• $314.3 million, Powerball, won August 25, 2007, in Indiana.
• $294 million, Mega Millions, won on July 2, 2004, by Geraldine Williams from Lowell, Massachusetts. Choosing $168,480,412 cash.
• $275 million, Mega Millions, won on February 22, 2008, Robert and Tonya Harris of Portal, Georgia. Choosing $167,694,000 cash.
• $270 million, Mega Millions, won on February 28, 2006, in Ohio. The ticket was claimed by the M & H Blind Trust. The winner chose the lump sum of $158.8 million.
• $258 million, Mega Millions, won on September 16, 2005, by Harold and Helen Lerner of New Jersey. They chose the lump sum of $156,141,600.

Europe

Unlike in the United States, where lottery wins are taxed, and the winnings paid through an annuity, unless a lump sum (if allowed) is chosen by the winner(s), European jackpots are generally tax-free (the lotteries themselves are taxed in other ways) and jackpots are paid in lump sum. In the United Kingdom, lottery wagers are split between Camelot plc and the government. Camelot, the game operator, takes some of the money for the prizes, some for operating costs, a small amount (about 0.5 penny of each ₤1) for profit, and puts the rest into their 'good causes' program. The remainder of the money (after Camelot's share) goes to the government as tax. The government collects VAT on ticket sales despite getting a cut of the entry.

• SuperEnalotto is Italy's largest lottery. On August 22, 2009, the jackpot was won for the first time since January 31. The jackpot of €147,807,299.08 (US$205 million) went to a resident of Bagnone (Toscana).

• EuroMillions is a pan-European lottery, with odds of 1 in 116,531,800 (1 in 76,275,360 before May 2011) and a minimum jackpot of €15 million (US$21 million).

• The largest one-play Euromillions jackpot, £161,653,000 (US$260 million) was won on 14 July 2011. This is Europe's biggest jackpot on one ticket.

• In July 2005, housewife Dolores McNamara, of Limerick, Ireland, won a tax-free lump sum of €115,436,126 when she hit a nine-week rollover jackpot.

• On February 3, 2006, EuroMillions had a prize of €183 million, which was shared between three winning tickets, two in France and one in Portugal, each winning €61,191,026.

• In May 2009, a 25-year-old woman from Mallorca, Spain won a EuroMillions jackpot of €126,231,764. The jackpot had accumulated after rolling over for 6 consecutive draws. It is rumoured that she was suffering from flu and was getting ready to go back into work before she found out about her winnings. She quit from her job within minutes of finding out.

• German National Lottery biggest lottery winning of €37,688,292 was taken on 7 October 2006. The largest jackpot was €45,382,458 in December 2007 and was split between three winning tickets.

• Largest UK prize was £22,590,829 and hit in June 1995. The largest jackpot was £42,008,610 on 6 January 1996 and was split between three winning tickets.

• France Lottery biggest lottery winning of €24,000,000 was taken on 6 June 2011. The largest jackpot was €30,009,676 in May 2006 and was split between two winning tickets (SuperLoto).

• Belgium National Lottery biggest lottery winning of €7,000,000 was taken in October 2006 (SuperLotto). The largest jackpot was €10,000,000 in February 2008 and was split between ten winning tickets (SuperLotto).

• The second largest ever Irish National Lottery jackpot of €18,963,441 was won on June 28, 2008 by a syndicate of sixteen work colleagues at a quarry and concrete plant in County Carlow.

• The EuroMillions jackpot of £91,141,671.00 was split into two prizes of £45,570,835.50 on November 6, 2009, one prize was won by a syndicate of seven work colleagues at an IT company in Liverpool, the other by a couple from South Wales.