Community Corner
'Ocean's 16' Tax Bill: $24 Million
Each winner will take home $3.87 million after taxes
The 16 co-workers at Ocean County's vehicle maintenance garage in Toms River won't be the only beneficiaries of last week's $448 million Powerball lottery jackpot.
Uncle Sam – as well as the New Jersey state treasury – will both be enriched through their shares of the haul.
The jackpot of $448 million had a cash value of $258 million, according to data provided by the New Jersey State Lottery Commission. Since there were three winning tickets – the others were sold in South Brunswick, N.J. and Minnesota – the jackpot was split into thirds.
The Ocean's 16 group won a total of $86,054,355, from which $21,513,589 will deducted for a 25 percent federal tax and $2,581,631 will be deducted for a 3 percent state tax.
The net prize after taxes is $61,959,135, which will be split evenly 16 ways. Each winner will receive a check for $3,872,445.94, according to lottery officials.
But the 3 percent tax isn't the only way the state will benefit from the drawing. New Jersey retailers sold $49,027,585 worth of Powerball tickets for the Aug. 7 drawing, $20,591,586 of which is estimated to come back to New Jersey in the form of commissions under its participation agreement in the multi-state lottery game.
Each ticket sold for the drawing had odds of 1 in 195 million of being a winner.
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