You hit: what to do before the 90 days run out

A winning ticket for Mega-Sena draw 3056, held on September 10, 2026, can be claimed until December 9. On December 10 it is worth nothing, even if it is the only winner of the top tier. That is 90 calendar days counted from the draw, with no extension and no appeal.

The clock starts on the day of the draw

Holidays, weekends and bank strikes all count inside the 90 days. It is not a deadline in business days, and it does not start on the date you found out you had won. For anyone who only checks a ticket now and then, that is the main reason to check more often: the deadline is already running.

Where you collect depends on the amount

A gross prize of up to R$ 2,259.20 is paid at any lottery retailer (a lotérica), which in practice means up to R$ 1,581.44 in hand, with the tax already withheld. Above that, only at a Caixa branch, with an original ID document that shows your CPF and the original winning bet receipt. Payment at branches takes at least two business days: it is not cash at the counter on the same day.

It is worth checking the current limits on the official channel before leaving home, because they are adjusted from time to time.

The 30% is already taken out

The amount that appears in the prize breakdown is gross. Caixa withholds 30% income tax at the source at the moment of payment, and federal lotteries have no exemption band: it applies to the R$ 4.57 Quina prize and to the millions of the Mega da Virada alike.

Whoever hit the Quina in draw 3056 saw R$ 45,990.43 in the breakdown table and received R$ 32,193.30. Working backwards gives the same rule in the retailer limits: R$ 2,259.20 minus 30% is exactly the R$ 1,581.44 paid at the counter.

The tax has been paid, but the prize still has to appear on the annual tax return, in the section for income subject to exclusive taxation at source. It does not change what you owe; it changes what the tax authority can explain about where the money in your account came from.

Nobody is going to call you

Caixa does not notify winners, whether the prize is small or large. Checking is the bettor's responsibility, and the 90 days depend on it. If the ticket is old and the memory is vague, the checker compares your numbers with the official result of any recorded draw, and the page for each draw shows the full prize breakdown for that day.

A retailer ticket is thermal paper and fades with heat and light. Photographing it as soon as you buy it solves the memory problem, but it does not replace the paper: payment requires the original receipt.

In a pool, whoever holds the paper collects

In an informal pool, what friends agreed among themselves has no effect at the moment of payment. Whoever presents the original receipt collects, and the split afterwards is a matter between the people involved. A group that plays often gains a lot from recording who joined, with how much and for which draw, before the draw — which has already prevented fights that cost more than the prize. The pool guide covers the money side; this one is only about the paper.

If the deadline passes

A prize not claimed within 90 days expires and goes to the Student Financing Fund, FIES, as Law 13,756/2018 determines. There is no request, appeal or negotiation afterwards — the money simply changes destination. Every year an amount that could pay for several lifetimes of bets disappears this way.