The winning tickets to some of the world's largest lottery jackpots have been drawn in the United States, but Americans aren't the only ones eligible for a chance to win the billion-dollar prizes.
Mega Millions and Powerball lottery tickets are sold in 45 states in addition to the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, but you don't need to be a resident of these places to buy a ticket. Powerball tickets are also available in Puerto Rico.
Anyone visiting these states and territories, including Canadians and other foreign tourists, are free to buy a lottery ticket in person. Sales are typically cut off around an hour before the numbers are drawn, but the purchase cut-off time may vary depending on state.
Mega Millions and Powerball only sell lottery tickets online to residents of certain states, such as Georgia and Kentucky.
There are third-party services, such as The Lotter, which will buy lottery tickets on your behalf for a fee, although The Lotter says its services aren't available to customers in Canada. Mega Millions also says it doesn't endorse these companies and warns, "if you choose to do business with one of these companies, you do so at your own risk."
If you win something, you'll have to claim your winnings from the state where you purchased your ticket, although Mega Millions says lotteries typically have an option to claim most prizes levels by mail.
Lottery winnings are subject to a 30 per cent withholding tax from the U.S. federal government. There may also be an additional state tax, depending which state you purchased your ticket in.
Despite this, Canadian players won't have to worry about being taxed by the Canadian government as foreign lottery winnings are tax-exempt.
In recent years, some U.S. lottery jackpots have exceeded the US$1 billion mark. A Mega Millions ticket worth US$1.3 billion was sold in Illinois in July 2022, while another US$1 billion-winning Mega Millions ticket was sold in Michigan in January 2021.
Correction
This article has been updated to clarify that The Lotter does not offer its services to customers in Canada.
