Update at 1:20 p.m. on Friday, July 28: The Mega Millions jackpot has been raised to an estimated $940 million annuity, $472.5 million cash option for tonight's drawing.
The Mega Millions® jackpot remains the 5th-largest prize in the history of the game and the 8th-largest U.S. lottery jackpot.
Earlier this month, Mega Millions and Powerball® were both in the stratosphere. Their jackpots simultaneously topped the $700 million mark for just the 2nd time, and the Powerball jackpot reached $1.08 billion before it was won on July 19.
The Mega Millions jackpot has now been growing for more than 3 months. It was last won on April 18.
Latest Winning Numbers, Iowa Sales & Prizes
Iowa Lottery players won a total of 20,060 prizes in last night’s Mega Millions drawing. The winning numbers were: 3-5-6-44-61 and Mega Ball 25. The Megaplier® number was 4.
Iowa Lottery players bought more than $1.1 million in Mega Millions tickets for the drawing. But the average Mega Millions purchase in Iowa for the drawing remained about 3 plays per ticket.
At the lottery, those numbers tell us that a lot of people are having fun playing right now, and they’re staying within their means.
Easy Picks vs. Your Own Numbers
The vast majority of tickets purchased in games like Mega Millions and Powerball are easy-pick plays, meaning that the lottery terminal assigns the numbers printed on the ticket. About 93 percent of the Iowa plays for last night’s Mega Millions drawing were easy picks.
But players also can choose their own numbers. They choose 5 numbers from a pool of 1 to 70 for the white balls and 1 number from a separate pool of 25 for the yellow Mega Ball.
Neither option is luckier. The odds of winning are the same for every ticket purchased in the game.
There are more winners from easy-pick plays simply because the vast majority of tickets purchased are easy picks.
Withholding Rates In Iowa For A Jackpot Prize
At the lottery, we’ve been fielding a lot of tax-related questions this month about the giant jackpots. We can answer some of them, but others would need to be addressed by a tax expert.
Here are the specifics we can provide: For any jackpot prize claimed in Iowa, 24 percent federal withholding applies along with 5 percent state withholding. Those amounts are automatically deducted before the prize is paid and can’t be modified or waived.
The withholdings are designed to cover a lottery prize winner’s tax liability from claiming a large lottery prize. But the total taxes that a winner would owe are dependent upon that person’s financial circumstances outside of winning the lottery.
In some instances, the withholdings may not be enough, in other instances, they may be too much. The details would be sorted out in the winner’s income-tax filing for the year.
That’s one of the reasons we always encourage our winners to consult a lawyer or financial planner who can help answer their questions.
Lots Of People Dreaming Big
We’ve also heard from a lot of people with dreams of winning and thoughts about what they’d do if they hit it big.
To help with some thought-starters about a giant lottery win, we’ve got a video called “You Won! Now What?” You can watch it here on YouTube.
$1 Million Mega Millions Prize Still Unclaimed In Iowa
A $1 million Mega Millions prize won in central Iowa is still unclaimed after nearly 11 months. It will expire in early September if the winner doesn’t come forward in time.
The $1 million-winning ticket was purchased at The Filling Station/Gateway Expresse, 2400 University Blvd. in Ames, for the Mega Millions drawing on Sept. 6, 2022. It matched the first 5 numbers that night but missed the Mega Ball to win at the Match 5 level.
The winner or winners of the $1 million prize have until the close of business on Sept. 6, 2023, to claim it at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.
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