Would-be millionaires now have two opportunities to try for jackpots of more than $300 million.
The Mega Millions jackpot is now $346 million, and the Powerball jackpot, $307 million, after weekend drawings for both games failed to yield winners for the top prizes. (The next Mega Millions drawing is at 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday; Powerball, 10:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday.)
If the prize amount doesn't go up, the Mega Millions jackpot would be the seventh largest in the game's history.
The most recent big Mega Millions win — $536 million in July 2016 — was the third-largest in the game's history, and seventh largest in any U.S. lottery. It was the most ever awarded to a single Mega Millions winner and the highest cash-value jackpot awarded to a single winner in a U.S. lottery.
At $307 million, the Powerball jackpot doesn't even come close to cracking the game's top 10. (That would require exceeding the $425.3 million jackpot awarded to a single winner in February 2014.)
Of course, if you are lucky enough to pick the winning combo for either of this week's drawings, you won't walk away with the full amount.
Lottery site USAMega.com estimates the federal tax withholding on the $216.1 million lump sum would be a little more than $54 million, and state taxes could knock out up to another $19 million (with New York the worst offender). For the Powerball, the site projects those tax tallies for the $193.2 million cash prize at $48.3 million and up to $17 million, respectively.
Those figures are just the amounts withheld up front; your final tax burden is likely to be even higher.
