Played across nine European countries and drawn twice per week, the EuroMillions lottery has become the iconic draw of the continent.
The multi-million jackpot is always of big interest to the players and the press, especially when a jackpot finally drops for the seven-pick lottery.
Most recently, EuroMillions bolted to English-language headlines because it had found yet another winner playing from the UK.
As detailed by the BBC’s piece on EuroMillions paying out, an unnamed UK ticketholder reaped the rewards from the colossal £109.9 million jackpot, coming up big with the numbers three, 25, 38, 43, 49, and lucky stars three and seven.
It’s impossible to deny the colossal size of this EuroMillions Super Jackpot payout but is it among the very biggest, and after tax, how much does this lucky lotto player get to take home?
£109.9 Million Not Even a Top-five Triumph in the UK
It’s tough to believe, but in the history of EuroMillions, the £109.9 million jackpot doesn’t even crack the top-five winners from the UK, let alone in the UK, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Switzerland.
To get into the top-five of UK EuroMillions winners, you’d need to get at least £122,550,350, which was won on 2 April 2021 by an anonymous ticketholder.
Compared to several other big lotteries around the continent, however, £109.9 million is certainly a top-ranking prize.
Just across the Irish Sea, there have been several colossal EuroMillions winners, including the €175 million (~£146 million) and £114.9 million, both won in 2019 by natives of Ireland.
In the big local lottery, the Irish Lotto, the record prize is €19 million (~£16 million), which was won earlier this year.
In the UK, where the population is at least 13-times the size of Ireland, the biggest Lotto winner stands at £33 million, after two winning tickets were found for the January 2016 draw.
Down in Spain, however, there’s something far more gargantuan than the Irish Lotto, UK Lotto, or even EuroMillions.
The Christmas Lottery, commonly referred to as the ‘El Gordo,’ saw a pool of €2.4 billion (~£2 billion) shared between winners.
That said, €4 million (~£3.4 million) is the top prize.
Where Is It Best to Win the Jackpot?
While the jackpot sums vary significantly based on what you play, €1 million or £1 million is still a tremendous sum of money, and only one thing could get in the way of that: taxes.
For anyone playing on the Emerald Isle, you won’t need to worry about the taxman as Lottery tax in Ireland is non-existent.
Lottery winnings are tax-free for the Irish, but if any is to be gifted, the receiving person would need to pay gift tax.
In the UK, it’s a very similar case to the Irish state of play: lottery prizes are awarded tax-free.
This rule is applied regardless of how much is won or which lottery game it played.
However, inheritance tax may apply, as could anything that breaches the tax-free gift threshold. It’s a different story altogether in Spain.
If someone gets a piece of that multi-billion El Gordo prize, they’ll have to pay 20 per cent tax on the winnings.
So, as it turns out, whether you play the national or continental lotteries in the UK or Ireland, you’ll get the entirety of what you win.
In Spain, however, there may be billions on the line, but one-fifth goes to the taxman.