Why the EuroMillion profit in Luxembourg is higher

In Portugal, two people have been able to describe themselves as much wealthy since Friday: they each won the second prize in Euromillions and thus exactly 2,737,810.69 euros. In Luxembourg, however, nobody was lucky.

A total of seven tickets in Europe were awarded the second prize, two of them in Portugal. In the game, the largest jackpot so far was: 250 million euros. But nobody typed the winning numbers correctly.

In this most famous lottery in Europe, the profit sums are the same in all participating countries. But winners from Portugal will ultimately receive less money than that from Luxembourg-and from almost all other EuroMillion countries. In addition to Portugal, only Spain and Switzerland shorten the payments. However, the burden there is less strong.

Portugal: shortened profits

Why don’t winners get the full amount in Portugal? Because the Portuguese tax authorities raise a « stamp tax »: this is 20 percent on profits over 5,000 euros. Amounts up to this limit are tax -free – everything beyond is taxed at 20 percent.

Back to the second EuroMillion win on Friday: While the other five winners in Europe receive the full amount of EUR 2,737,810.69, the two in Portugal only receive 2,190,248.55 euros. That means: 547,562.14 euros less – exactly the 20 percent tax that flows directly into the state treasury.

If there are people from Spain or Switzerland among the five other winners, they also receive less – but the rules there are less strict than in Portugal. If one of the victorious tickets in Luxembourg had been handed over, the lucky one would have received the full amount.

Become rich in tax -free in Luxembourg

Spain also raises a stamp tax of 20 percent – but only to the proportion of the profit that exceeds 40,000 euros. Profits below this threshold remain tax -free. Even with higher amounts, only the exceeding part is taxed. In Portugal, on the other hand, the following applies: As soon as a profit is over 5,000 euros, the tax rate of 20 percent uses the total amount.

Switzerland is also more generous than Portugal when it comes to taxing gambling profits. There is a tax of 35 percent there – but only with profits over one million Swiss francs (around 1,065,800 euros). The first CHF 1,000 remain tax -free.

In Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, on the other hand, a tax is levied on lottery with lottery – and the bottom line is that the Portuguese winners are most affected.

Euromillions are played in nine European countries. In which of these do the profits remain tax -free? In Luxembourg, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Austria. In these countries, winners receive the full amount.

In Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, on the other hand, a tax is levied on lottery with lottery – and the bottom line is that the Portuguese winners are most affected.

This article first appeared at « Contacto » . He was translated with AI tools that learn from data from human translations, and edited by Marvin.