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PlayClaiming EuroMillions Prizes Abroad
One of the most important rules of the game to bear in mind is that you can only claim EuroMillions prizes in the country in which the ticket was bought. You do not have to be a citizen of that nation to play and win on EuroMillions, so there is nothing to stop you from rousing yourself from the comfort of your sunlounger to play your usual lines, but you do have to be physically within the country to receive your winnings.
EuroMillions is a collaboration between ten official lotteries in nine countries and each takes responsibility for paying out rewards from winning tickets purchased in their jurisdiction. Whilst this is of little concern if you have left your vacation before the draw takes place and you need to return to Luxembourg to pick up a mighty jackpot worth €50 million, but it is simply not cost effective to hop on a plane to collect €3.40 for matching two main numbers!
EuroMillions Taxes
You must also consider the tax situation in the countries in which you choose to play EuroMillions. Wins of over €2,500 in Spain are taxed at 20 percent, as are Portuguese prizes of more than €5,000, whilst Swiss officials withhold 35 percent on amounts above CHF1,000. Although winners in, for example, the UK, Austria or Belgium enjoy tax-free lottery prizes at home, when you play in a country that does tax such awards, you must accept that you will not receive the full amount advertised should you win a very large prize.
Supplementary Games
You should also remember to check your EuroMillions tickets carefully, as you may also be entered into special additional draws and you wouldn’t want to miss out on a big payday because you hadn’t realised. The UK’s supplementary game is Millionaire Maker and a code for that draw is automatically generated on your ticket for every line you play in the main game. If your code is drawn, you are due £1 million, but if you are used to buying tickets in a country that does not offer a similar feature, you may forget to check your Millionaire Maker code. France’s My Million works in a similar way, with at least one code guaranteed to win €1 million every time EuroMillions is played.
Playing EuroMillions in Advance
If you want to avoid the complications of playing EuroMillions in a different country, it is possible to play in advance, no matter where you live. Each participating nation offers the ability to buy tickets for a number of future draws. Irish ticket holders can enter up to eight draws in a row, whilst UK players can sign up to play continuously via Direct Debit, or they can buy tickets that are valid for four weeks’ worth of draws.
Wherever you are in Europe tonight, the jackpot is worth a huge £37 million (€45 million) and you can buy EuroMillions tickets online or from authorised retailers. Good luck!