Can undocumented immigrants or international tourists collect California lottery prizes?
No winner was drawn for the California Lottery on Monday night, catapulting Wednesday's grand prize to $1.09 billion—and it's still growing.
With the jackpot's prize growing so large, some are wondering: can an undocumented immigrant or international tourist win the California Lottery's Powerball jackpot? The answer is yes, but it comes with a higher tax.
U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens who can provide a social security number will see 34% of their winnings withheld, according to the California Lottery Winner's Handbook.
However, any winner who is not a U.S. Citizen or a Resident Alien will see 30% of their prize withheld for tax purposes. That means an undocumented winner would take home $65 million less than a U.S. Citizen who won the same prize.
KTVU spoke with some people who didn’t want to wait until the last minute to get their tickets before Monday's drawing, and a few people who were playing for the first time.
With a nearly billion-dollar Powerball jackpot on the line, people who say they’ve never purchased lottery tickets before, are now taking their chances. One player at the 7-11 Store on Kooser Road in San Jose says she’s able to play now because she just turned 18.
"I mean it’s exciting, it’s different. I have never done something like that before, so it’s kind of fun," said Ada, of San Jose.
The last jackpot winner was in Michigan on January 1st. Ernie’s Liquor Store in East San Jose had a big winner back in 2018, and on Sunday, people bought scratcher card games, lottery tickets, and dreamed of what they'd do with a huge jackpot.
While some players say traveling the world is high on their list of things to do,
"Maybe Greece. I want to go to Greece," said Raul, of San Jose.
Other players say they’ll make planning for the future their biggest priority.
"My mom wants to move somewhere with land and property, so I’d probably help her out with stuff like that. Then give my grandma some money and things and then college, obviously because I’m going to college next year. That’ll be a big expense," said Ada, of San Jose.
"Invest it. There’s no other way. Give it to a little family and spread it all over," said Raul, of San Jose.
The next drawing will be held Wednesday night at 8p.m. The cutoff time to purchase tickets is an hour ahead of the drawing.