This is a little more difficult question to answer because it depends on a couple of important factors.
- First up is where you live.
- Second is where the lottery itself originates from.
These two factors are going to determine not only whether you have to pay taxes or not, but also just how much taxes you’re going to have to pay for your win.
US Lotteries
In the United States, you are required to pay taxes on your lottery winnings no matter where those winnings come from. In fact, you are required to report and pay taxes on any and all money that you have coming into your home during the course of any given year.
So, it doesn’t matter what lottery you win or even if you were overseas at the time that you purchased the ticket. If you live in the United States and you are required to file taxes you are required to report the money that you earned. And the government will get a share of it.
For those who play the lottery in the US but are not actually citizens, there is a tax taken out of the money when they win. In fact, there is a 30% fee that is withheld from the winnings if anyone other than a US citizen wins.
After all, if a US citizen wins they will be required to pay taxes on the money both at the time they claim it and when it comes time to report their income. But if you’re not a US citizen you would theoretically be able to take that money and run. So the government takes its share early.
United Kingdom
On the other hand, the UK doesn’t charge taxes on lottery winnings to the ticket holder. Instead, they opt to charge those taxes to the company operating the lottery instead. France, Austria, Germany, Iceland, Denmark, Russia, Canada, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, and Argentina do not charge taxes on their largest lotteries.
That is why Simbalotto buys the Euromillions tickets in Austria, and the Eurojackpot tickets in Germany – so that you don’t have to worry about taxes when you win.
This means you can look at the number of the current jackpot and feel more comfortable about just how much you’re actually going to get.
The tax situation in other countries
Still, countries like Brazil, Croatia, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal charge taxes on the winnings that you get just the way the United States does. Keep in mind that these taxes are required on both sides.
So if you live in the United States and win the lotto in Spain you’ll need to pay taxes in Spain and also taxes in the United States. This is something to keep in mind when you’re betting on foreign games in other countries.
If you’re looking to make as much money as possible with the lottery you may want to take a closer look at the taxes and the way that they’re taken out. You don’t want to win a large jackpot only to find out later that it’s much smaller than you thought. Taxes can sneak up on you after all, and you don’t want that.