Two Portuguese lottery players walked away with substantial secondary prizes from the July 10 Euromilhões draw, despite no one hitting the jackpot. One ticket holder matched enough numbers to claim a second-tier prize worth €149,698.40, while another secured €19,992.56 from the third tier—both figures before the mandatory 20% stamp tax applied to winnings above €5,000.
Why This Matters:
• Net payout reality: After tax, the second prize winner receives approximately €120,759, and the third prize winner takes home around €16,994.
• Jackpot accumulation: The top prize rolled to €50M for the July 17 draw, following the July 14 draw that also produced no first-tier winners.
• Portugal's prize drought continues: No Portuguese player has won a Euromilhões jackpot since June 2024, when eight friends from Braga claimed the all-time record €250M jackpot—a drought now extending nearly two years.
The Winning Numbers and Prize Breakdown
The July 10 draw produced the combination 2, 14, 28, 33, 48 with stars 8 and 10. The jackpot for this draw stood at approximately €38M, and following no first-tier winners, it rolled over to the next draw.
Four players across the participating European countries matched five main numbers plus one star for the second prize, with Portugal claiming one of those four tickets. The third-tier prize—awarded for matching five main numbers with no stars—went to seven players in total, including one Portuguese bettor.
These mid-tier wins represent a rare bright spot in what has been a challenging stretch for Portuguese Euromilhões participants. The country saw a significant drop in major prizes during 2025, with just 44 winners of prizes exceeding €1M—the lowest tally since 2017 and 20 fewer than in 2024. That decline cost the Portugal Revenue Department more than €52M in uncollected stamp tax revenue.
Tax Treatment: What Winners Actually Receive
Portugal applies a 20% stamp tax (Imposto do Selo) to all lottery prizes above €5,000, deducted automatically by Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa before payout.
The tax calculation works by applying the 20% rate only to the portion exceeding the €5,000 threshold. For example, a €20,000 prize is taxed on €15,000 (the amount over the threshold), resulting in a €3,000 deduction and a final payout of €17,000. Using this formula:
• The €149,698.40 second prize nets approximately €120,759 after tax
• The €19,992.56 third prize nets approximately €16,994 after tax
Portuguese winners do not need to declare these prizes on their annual IRS (income tax) returns, as lottery winnings are exempt from personal income tax and capital gains obligations.
Portugal's €5,000 threshold ranks among the lowest in Europe. Spain, by comparison, applies its 20% rate only above €40,000, allowing smaller winners to keep their full prizes.
How to Claim Your Prize in Portugal
For Portuguese lottery players, understanding the claims process is essential. Prizes below €5,000 can be collected at any authorized retailer. Sums above €5,000 require in-person verification at a Santa Casa regional office, where tax processing occurs before payout.
For prizes exceeding €500,000, winners must schedule an appointment at the organization's Lisbon headquarters for identity verification and final processing.
Winners have 90 days from the draw date to claim prizes. After this deadline, unclaimed amounts revert to the lottery's reserve fund. The Santa Casa publishes official results on its website immediately after each draw, typically held around 9:00 p.m. Central European Time.
Euromilhões draws occur every Tuesday and Friday, with tickets available at authorized retailers and online through the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa platform. Players must be 18 or older, and the minimum bet is €2.50 per line.
Recent Draw History and Rollover Momentum
The Euromilhões lottery has seen considerable jackpot volatility in July 2026. On July 3, a single ticket won €80.2M, resetting the top prize. The subsequent draws on July 7, July 10, and July 14 all failed to produce first-tier winners, pushing the jackpot to €50M for the next draw on July 17.
Portugal's participation in these mid-month draws has yielded modest results. In the July 14 draw, Portuguese bettors secured only fourth-tier prizes—one ticket winning €1,444.75—while the top three tiers again went unclaimed domestically.
Historical Context: Portugal's Euromilhões Fortunes
Portugal's most celebrated lottery moment came in June 2024, when a syndicate of eight friends from Braga won the €250M jackpot—the largest Euromilhões prize ever claimed in Portugal and one of the biggest in the game's history.
Before that, a bettor in Ramalde, Porto, took home €213.9M in June 2024, surpassing the previous national record of €190M won by a Castelo Branco resident in October 2014. Wait, this needs correction — the Braga €250M win was the most recent major victory. These occasional mega-jackpots underscore the lottery's high-variance nature: long stretches of smaller prizes punctuated by rare transformational wins.
The current dry spell—nearly two years without a Portuguese jackpot winner—represents an extended lull by Portuguese standards. With no first-tier wins and a reduced frequency of second- and third-tier prizes, the Santa Casa has seen a corresponding drop in stamp tax revenue—money that typically flows into social programs and public works.
What This Means for Residents
For Portuguese lottery players, the July 10 results offer a reminder that secondary prizes remain accessible even when jackpots elude the country. Matching five numbers plus one star—a feat achieved by the second-prize winner—requires considerable luck but occurs with far greater frequency than a full jackpot win.
The post-tax reality is crucial for anyone betting on Euromilhões. While advertised prize amounts sound generous, the 20% stamp tax materially reduces take-home sums. Players should mentally adjust expectations: a €150,000 prize effectively becomes €120,000, and a €20,000 prize nets around €16,000.
The upcoming €50M draw on July 17 will test whether Portugal's jackpot drought extends further. As the jackpot climbs, anticipation builds for whether a Portuguese ticket will finally break the nearly two-year dry spell—or whether the prize will once again land elsewhere in Europe.
