With The Lottery Office, you have access to the biggest international lottery draws in the world! These international lottery jackpots can be significantly larger than those from the traditional Australian lotteries. However, unlike Australia where there is no tax on lotto, in some cases, there may be taxes associated with an international win.
The Lottery Office makes it possible for Australians to play international lotteries because we purchase matching tickets in the corresponding overseas lotteries. If your Lottery Office ticket wins, we collect the overseas prize and pay you the equivalent amount in Australian dollars, after any applicable taxes are deducted by the foreign lottery operator/government on the foreign lottery winnings.
When it comes to Lottery Tax Australia, the rules are straightforward: there is no tax on lottery winnings locally. However, it’s important to understand the tax implications in the country where the original lottery is held.
Here’s what you need to know about taxes when you play to win in the following lotteries:
USA Mega Lotto & USA Power Lotto
There are federal and state US taxes payable on larger US lottery winnings. The federal tax rate that is paid to a non-resident winner is 30% on payouts above USD $600 with an additional 8% state tax on winnings over USD $1,500. US taxes are deducted from the prize amounts before payout by the state lottery office.
Matching EuroMillions tickets are purchased in Austria. Lottery winnings are not currently taxed in Austria.
A 20% tax is applied to winnings that exceed the equivalent of €500. The Lottery Office will pay you the exact amount of after-tax winnings collected from the matching SuperEnalotto ticket.
Matching EuroJackpot tickets are purchased in Germany. Lottery winnings are not currently taxed in Germany.
Lottery winnings are not currently taxed in the UK & Ireland.
Matching tickets are purchased in Spain. There is a tax rate of 20% on lottery winnings exceeding the equivalent of €40,000.
So why play international lotteries?
Sure, we have some big lottery jackpots right here in Australia, but there’s no comparison to the amounts you can win from the draws of some international lottery jackpots.
The biggest ever single US Mega Millions win was a mind-blowing AUD $2.1 billion! While Australia’s biggest lottery jackpot saw one lucky Aussie take home a first division prize of AUD $107 million and while that’s all well and good, it’s almost pocket change compared to an AUD 2 billion dollar jackpot.
When it comes to European lotteries, the EuroMillions biggest jackpot winner walked away with AUD $330 million, more than tripling Australia’s record of AUD $107 million! With prize money like this on offer, why wouldn’t you want a chance to win?
The good news is if you win an international lottery you won’t pay any additional local taxes on your winnings as there is no tax on lotto in Australia. The Lottery Office doesn’t charge any fees or commissions, you get paid the same amount as collected from the overseas lottery win.
If you have any more questions about the international lottery taxes head over to our FAQs page, or if you have all the information you need go ahead and PLAY NOW!
