A North Carolina man’s life changed after he decided to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket at a food store.
Melvin Brooks of Gaston County, which is in central North Carolina near Charlotte Douglas International Airport, bought a $5 lottery ticket during a shopping trip with his cousin.
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He purchased the ticket at a Circle A food store on North Main Street in Mount Holly.
“I saw a friend’s post saying he won $100 on that scratch card, so I decided to give it a try,” he said. NC Lottery.
Brooks was shocked when he scratched off the ticket in the parking lot, revealing his big win of $400,000.
“It’s not every day you win $400,000,” he told lottery officials.
Brooks added that he went out to celebrate after scratching his ticket.
The $400,000 Jackpot is a high-value scratch-off prize in North Carolina.
The odds of winning the jackpot are one in 2,058,816, according to NC Lottery.
The $400,000 Jackpot game debuted in April.
Only five jackpot tickets were released and now there are four remaining.
There were a total of 10 tickets released worth $10,000, and only two were claimed.
BEAT TAXES
Despite winning the massive $400,000 prize, Brooks only managed to take home $281,001 after taxes.
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission requires lottery winners to deduct taxes from payments over $600, according to the North Carolina General Assembly.
Federal income tax on lottery winnings is 24%, in addition to state taxes, according to Power ball.
North Carolina has an additional 5.25% tax on lottery winnings, meaning Brooks paid $118,999 in taxes on the jackpot prize.
North Carolina also has an initiative that funds local schools with money invested in the lottery.
The state has raised more than $10 billion for education since the lottery began.
Last year, more than a billion was raised for educational programs through lottery, according to NC Lottery.
About 38% goes to school staff, 8% goes to preschool programs, 48% goes to school construction, 4% goes to scholarships/grants, and 2% goes to school transportation.
Top US Lottery Winners
Millions dream of winning the lottery and finding fame and fortune. These are the biggest winners in US lottery history.
- Edwin Castro – $2.04 billion, Powerball, November 8, 2022, in California.
- Theodorus Struyck – $1.765 billion, Powerball, October 11, 2023, California.
- Unknown Winner – $1.602 Billion, Mega Millions, August 8, 2023, Florida.
- Marvin and Mae Acosta of Los Angeles, California, John and Lisa Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, and Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt of Melbourne Beach, Florida – $1.586 billion, Powerball, January 13, 2016.
- Unknown Winner – $1.537 Billion, Mega Millions, October 23, 2018, from South Carolina.
- Winner unknown – he sued his child’s mother to keep his identity hidden – $1.348 billion, Mega Millions, January 13, 2023, from Maine.
- Unknown Winner – $1.337 Billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, from Illinois.
- Cheng and Duanpen Saephan and Laiza Liem Chao – $1.326 billion, Powerball, April 7, 2024, from Oregon.
- Yanira Álvarez – $1.08 billion Powerball, July 19, 2023 in California.
- Wolverine FLL Lottery Club – $1.05 Billion, Mega Millions, January 22, 2021, from Michigan.
- Winner unknown – $842.4 million Powerball, January 1, 2024, from Michigan.
North Carolina falls in the middle on income taxes, with North Dakota adding just an initial 2.9% in lottery taxes and New York taxing a whopping 10.9%.
States that do not tax lottery prizes are California, Florida, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virgin Islands, Washington State and Wyoming.
Although Brooks only takes home a third of the prize money, he plans to use the money to pay off his mortgage and help his wife and daughters.
Lottery taxes often drastically deduct winners’ prize pools.
An expectant father in Jacksonville, Florida won the $1 million prize while playing the 500X The Cash game, but only walked away with $640,000.
Another Mega Millions winner in Illinois collected $552 million, but is estimated to take home just $264 million due to taxes.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
