There is less than two months to go before the $1.5 billion Mega Millions winner in South Carolina can no longer collect their winnings. If the player does not hand in their signed ticket by April 12th, the winnings will be redistributed to the 46 lotteries. This has significant repercussions not only to the winner but also the state. For one, the state will not be able to collect $61 million in income taxes from the winning. This is a loss of .5% percent of the state’s annual spending plan. The retailer who sold the winning ticket will also not be eligible for their $50,000 sellers fee.
While many winners wait for a duration of time before handing in their winning ticket, very few wait over four months. It is now a very possible situation that the ticket goes unclaimed. The last largest jackpot to go unclaimed was in 2002 and was worth $68 million.