How much you will actually win if you win today’s record lottery jackpot

If you look at it soberly, there is virtually no chance: the chance that you will choose the correct six numbers and the correct extra number tonight with one tip is 1 in 31,474,716. Accordingly, there are sites on the Internet that list extremely rare things that are more likely than becoming a lucky lottery winner. This includes being born with six fingers, being struck by lightning or being so badly injured while putting on your pants that you have to go to the hospital.

Only: naked probability calculations have never stopped Swiss people from participating in the lottery. Especially when the jackpot is full. And that’s it: on Wednesday at 7 p.m., 53.2 million francs will be ready to be collected. This is a record in Swisslos’ more than 50-year history.

If someone actually wins this jackpot, not only will the guy be happy, but also the tax authorities. A large part of the profit goes to the municipality, the canton and the federal government.

Lottery winnings of more than R1 million are taxed as income and capital. And that is not so tight: a significant part of the 53.2 million francs will not even reach the winner.

How much money actually ends up in the lucky person’s account varies greatly. The cantons levy very different taxes. The Vermögenszentrum (VZ) calculated for CH Media and Watson how much would be left on average.

And the differences are striking: While in the canton of Jura – taxes were always calculated for the respective capital – 42.34 million of today’s jackpot ends up in their own pockets, in Geneva this is ‘only’ 29.85 million. That’s a difference of 13.5 million.

There are also technical reasons for this: “In most cantons, lottery winnings are included as additional income in the regular tax calculation. However, individual cantons use a separate tax calculation for taxing lottery winnings,” says Markus Stoll, head of taxes at the VZ Vermögenszentrum. For this reason, “cantons like Jura and Valais, for example, top the rankings when it comes to taxing lottery winnings, while the canton of Schwyz falls behind,” says Stoll.

But even within the cantons, there are sometimes significant differences in local taxes from community to community. A case from the canton of Solothurn recently caused a stir. In January 2023, a man won the Euromillions jackpot worth 68 million francs. He then briefly moved his residence a few miles.

Sole goal: tax optimization. Keep an extra few million in your own pocket by moving. What matters for taxes is where you live on December 31 of the previous year.

But that angered the then Council of States of Solothurn, Roberto Zanetti. The SPler therefore demanded in parliament that the millions in winnings from lotteries and other games of chance would in the future be taxed at the ‘tax residence at the time the winnings are due’. In other words: moving to save taxes (in the short term) should no longer be possible.

Today, millions in profits often benefit low-tax communities that are already financially strong. On the other hand, the communities where lottery millionaires come from, where additional millions would often have a much greater impact on tax coffers, leave empty-handed. The deal was unchallenged in the Council of States and was accepted. The representatives of the cantons naturally consider Zanetti’s idea to be a good clarification of the applicable law.

Now the ball is in the National Council’s court. And he has concerns. The deal received only very meager approval from the Economic Commission. With 13 votes against 12. At first glance, the financial politicians do not show any interest in optimizing tax rates for lottery-lucky players, but rather fear “the additional administrative efforts that the cantons would have to make as a result of the necessary coordination .”

Therefore, a moving showdown in the lottery will take place on March 6. In the main hall, the matter is on the agenda for the spring session. If the National Council also says yes, the Federal Council must develop a corresponding legislative amendment. And the government also sympathizes with Zanetti’s initiative.

However, the debate will have little impact on the winner of today’s record jackpot. Unless no one correctly guesses the correct combination of 6 of the 42 numbers and 1 of the 6 (lucky number) until further notice. But if that happens before or even today, the lucky person can still happily move to a tax haven.

As a reminder, the odds of winning are 1 in 31,474,716.