Spanish lottery player wins €123M Euro Millions jackpot

Comment #25

HaveABall — Thu, 19 May 2011 02:42:37 GMT

Yes! I, too, I can forsee that possibility! Darn.

Comment #24

HaveABall — Thu, 19 May 2011 02:39:18 GMT

Thanks for presenting your idea. Problem with idea is that, in most countries, the countrymen buddy would be limited as to how much they can annually give a person. (In the U.S.A., that gift amount has been $13K per person per year -- a married couple could thus collectively gift up to $26K to a single person, per year. Another key caveat is cannot gift more than $1,000,000 within their lifetime, otherwise, the sender and receiver pay a very high tax).

Comment #23

time*treat — Wed, 18 May 2011 02:40:46 GMT

Hmm, 60% the the IRS vs. 100% to the [suddenly-left-town-without-leaving-a-forwarding-addy] buddy.

Comment #22

butterflykt — Tue, 17 May 2011 17:23:21 GMT

Congratulations to the winner. I hope they enjoy the blessing

Comment #21

rdgrnr — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:16:14 GMT

Welcome to Lottery Post jaylo!

Best of luck to you

Comment #20

jaylo12 — Tue, 17 May 2011 08:05:52 GMT

WOW! So LUCKY! I want to win to become a millionaire also..

Comment #19

James1 — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:57:52 GMT

not if your from England or any other tax-treaty country

say if you won $1 MM you can have your English buddy collect it tax free instead of you giving 60% of it away to IRS ...

Comment #18

OwlCreekBridge — Mon, 16 May 2011 19:31:38 GMT

this is useful information. The US IRS not only taxes US citizens for income made outside US soil but taxes non-residents for winning. I think the US is one of the very few countries in the world that does this. If there are other countries that do the same, I'd like to know.

Comment #17

Mario38 — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:12:25 GMT

This is not the case for Canadian lotteries. Anyone can play and win regardless of their citizenship or country of residence. No taxes are withheld by the Canadian government again regardless of their citizenship of country of residence. If an American citizen wins a Canadian lottery, they have to pay taxes to the US government but no taxes are paid to the Canadian government.

Comment #16

OwlCreekBridge — Mon, 16 May 2011 04:28:45 GMT

if this is true, it's news to me. I was under the impression the United States was one of the very few countries that tax lotto winnings. I know the US has a foreigner income tax for foreigners who win a jackpot in the US but I've never heard this about another country. I'm planning on playing a non-US lotto soon and there is always the possibility I might win something so any links or other information about a foreigner income tax on US citizens playing other countries would be appreciated.... [ More ]

Comment #15

HaveABall — Mon, 16 May 2011 03:53:32 GMT

Thanks for responding, OwlCreekBridge.

All good points and I appreciate them! The only problem would be that, I believe, all foreign countries require that lottery jackpot winner be a CITIZEN for at least ONE year; or else winner pays an foreigner income tax to the country PLUS an additional income tax to country (plus possibly state/providence/county income tax) that winner formerly resided in and/or were a citizen of. So, if the foreign lottery only allows 1 year to claim the ticket, taxes... [ More ]

Comment #14

rdgrnr — Mon, 16 May 2011 02:24:15 GMT

Hey Goombadi! Eh Cumpari

Comment #13

TonyZinc — Mon, 16 May 2011 02:05:38 GMT

IRS :Nigthmare for its citizens

Comment #12

OwlCreekBridge — Mon, 16 May 2011 00:11:25 GMT

depends on the country. Most countries in the world tax their citizens only on the income made from their country, so it wouldn't be a crime in most countries. The main reason a country would extradite someone for this would not be on principle but only to appease the US.

If I were ever in a position to do something like this, I'd move to a country that doesn't care what the US thinks about them, a country that isn't the US's b......

On another subject, Australia's Saturday lotto is going... [ More ]

Comment #11

sully16 — Sun, 15 May 2011 11:22:18 GMT

Congrats to the winner, ENJOY.

Comment #10

savagegoose — Sun, 15 May 2011 11:17:24 GMT

i wonder if extradition is avail for tax evasion

Comment #9

time*treat — Sun, 15 May 2011 01:59:33 GMT

Plenty of people still here denounce it. They still gotta pay.

Comment #8

James1 — Sun, 15 May 2011 01:08:25 GMT

Id leave USA first flight and denounce citizenship immediately. even if it was only $1 million bucks

Comment #7

OwlCreekBridge — Sat, 14 May 2011 21:41:06 GMT

as long as you are an American citizen the IRS feels they get a cut of any income you make from wherever the source, even if you are living in another country while you made the income.

US citizens are taxed by their citizenship not by their residency. Look up Expatriation Tax on google if you don't believe me.

Unlike most countries, the United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income, whether or not they are resident in the United States source wikipedia

That means if you ever go... [ More ]

Comment #6

rdgrnr — Sat, 14 May 2011 20:44:51 GMT

The government needs all that money to pay for that free healthcare now, Louise.

You don't want to deny anyone healthcare now, do you

Comment #5

louise black — Sat, 14 May 2011 20:33:22 GMT

Before someone jump all over me, I know the tax law ,but it would seem winning money this way would leave the USA taxes out but who am I to say they have no part in this winning.

Comment #4

rdgrnr — Sat, 14 May 2011 19:43:40 GMT

I hope it was Manuel.

He's from Barcelona.

Comment #3

OwlCreekBridge — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:06:51 GMT

if an American citizen won, he or she would have to pay the max federal income tax, as you mentioned 35%, plus state income tax. No, they won't have to pay taxes from Spain. According to wikipedia, the only country in Europe that taxes Euro Millions winnings is Switzerland.

If I was the winner, I'd collect the money anonymously, move to a tax friendly country and then renounce American citizenship. No way I'm giving the IRS $60+ million for something they had no part in whatsoever but then ag... [ More ]

Comment #2

HaveABall — Sat, 14 May 2011 14:39:08 GMT

Congratulations!!! I have a feeling that the winner is an American who bought this sole jackpot winning ticket last week from snip above link; with their agent purchasing the ticket, on their behalf, at a retailer in Spain.

If this is correct, does anybody know the jackpot percentage that snip will keep as their share ? Also, does anyone know if the American winner will have to pay more than the U.S.A. Federal's max Income Tax rate of 35% plus their max hometown/resident State Income Tax rate... [ More ]

Comment #1

dallascowboyfan — Sat, 14 May 2011 12:23:11 GMT

Congrats to the winner......

Spanish lottery player wins €123M Euro Millions jackpot

Lottery Post — Sat, 14 May 2011 11:53:53 GMT

By Todd Northrop

One lucky lottery ticket sold in Spain won the entire 123 million (US$174 million) jackpot in the Friday Euro Millions drawing.

The mega jackpot became so large so fast because the 11 countries participating in Euro Millions boosted the grand prize to 100 million this week to promote the new Tuesday drawings. When no ticket matched all five numbers plus the two lucky stars Tuesday, the jackpot grew to 123 million Friday.

This huge jackpot has been really exciting for p... [ More ]