A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

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Billion-dollar Mega Millions jackpot won’t trigger $850M IRS bill

Claim: The IRS would collect nearly $850 million in taxes from a more-than $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot.

The facts: The winner of the lottery jackpot that sat at $1.1 billion earlier this week, when the claims circulated, would expect to pay at least $135 million in federal income taxes if they choose to receive their earnings all at once, rather than over 30 years. That’s still far less than the $850 million claimed online.

Amid the frenzy leading up to Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, social media users shared posts suggesting the lion’s share of such a jackpot will ultimately end up in the federal government’s coffers in the form of tax revenue. No one has hit all six numbers in 25 tries stretching back more than two months. The prize now stands at $1.35 billion — the second-highest in the contest’s history — with the next drawing slated for Friday night.

Danielle Frizzi-Babb, a spokesperson for the Mega Millions contest, says lottery winners can choose between receiving their earnings either through annual payments, or all at once. For a $1.1 billion jackpot, that’s a choice between a roughly $569 million lump sum, or annual payments that increase over 30 years,...

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