Ironic that the record $2.04 billion jackpot drawing fell on the same day voters resoundingly rejected a pair of measures that would have legalized gambling on sports. How California, often maligned as a tax-happy state, ended up being one of nine Powerball participating states – including red-state rivals like Florida and Texas – that lets lottery winners slide is part of the interesting backstory of how voters here first rejected, then approved lottery sales.

Thirty-six other states take their cut of the winnings – including New York, Arizona and Virginia. In this case, it’s like winning a second $123 million jackpot.

So will the IRS.īut there’s a surprising reason why the mystery winner is lucky they bought the richest lottery ticket ever sold in the history of the planet here instead of, say, Louisiana or Kentucky: They won’t have to deal with the state taxman in the Golden State.Ĭalifornia doesn’t charge a cent in state income tax on lottery winnings, no matter the amount. Cousins of cousins will suddenly turn up at their doorstep. All week long, the good residents of Altadena, California, have been eyeing neighbors, counting co-workers who call in sick, and ringing up ex-spouses to size up who may have the single winning $2.04 billion Powerball ticket sold at a Mobil gas station in this Los Angeles suburb.Įverybody is waiting for the country’s newest billionaire to come forward.

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