In the states, All states ask you to pay the federal and state taxes first and if you want the lump sum, you lose a further chunk taking that option So if you won the $1.6 billion that they had recently up for grabs and wanted to collect it in one go, by the time you have paid federal tax, state tax and then lump sum collection cost it would drop to $529 million-$599 million depending on what state you are in as they all have separate levels of state tax. Imagine standing there with the cheque for $1.6 billion all smiley teeth on tv and you then read the bank account statement that says you lost $1 billion in taxes and fee's. Over £500 million is hardly a kick in the nuts though
Sadly I'd argue this, but the image is quite close....for the record I met Mrs AC when I was poor..and I need to get cracking to make up those dollars....
The national lottery provides a special financial guidance for lottery winners....for a fee of course