If you're lucky enough to win the over $1 Billion Mega Millions jackpot tonight, we'll tell you how much money is Louisiana's cut.

Mega Millions Jackpot Reaches Record High Of $640 Million
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I'll be buying a few tickets when I get off of work tonight and cross everything I can cross hoping for a big win.

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If someone wins tonight, the federal government will take 24% off the top for income taxes and the winner may still owe more taxes at the end of the year. Most financial experts advise their clients to take the cash payment. It is currently sitting at $602.5 million. That figures out to be an initial loss of $144.6 million to federal taxes.

But, the winner will lose even more money from the jackpot if they live in a state with income taxes. Louisiana is one of those states.

California Joins Mega Millions Lottery
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Here are the states with a higher income tax rate than Louisiana:

  • Washington, D.C.: 10.75%
  • Maryland: 8.95%
  • New York: 8.82%
  • New Jersey: 8%
  • Oregon: 8%
  • Wisconsin: 7.65%
  • Minnesota: 7.25%
  • South Carolina: 7%
  • Connecticut: 6.99%
  • Montana: 6.90%
  • Idaho: 6.50%
  • West Virginia: 6.50%
  • Vermont: 6%
  • Rhode Island: 5.99%
  • New Mexico: 5.90%
  • Georgia: 5.75%
  • Arkansas: 5.50%
  • Iowa: 5%
  • Kansas: 5%
  • Kentucky: 5%
  • Maine: 5%
  • Massachusetts: 5%
  • Mississippi: 5%
  • Nebraska: 5%
  • North Carolina: 4.99%
  • Illinois: 4.95%
  • Ohio: 4.80%

The Bayou State has a 4.75% income tax rate. So if the winner is from Louisiana and they choose to get the cash payout, they'll have to pay Louisiana $28,618,750 for income taxes.

Florida Lottery via YouTube
Florida Lottery via YouTube
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If you win tonight and you choose to take the annuity payments, I would recommend moving to one of the states below. Otherwise, if you stay in Louisiana, the state and the federal government will both get their cut every year for the next 30 years. That adds up to a ton of cash.

States without income taxes:

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • California
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Hawaii
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Washington
  • Wyoming

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

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