About Lottery Planner
Almost every lottery calculator online gets the same thing wrong. This one was built to fix it.
The problem
Search for a lottery tax calculator and you will find dozens of tools that multiply the jackpot by a single flat percentage. That approach produces a number that is wrong in two separate ways.
First, it conflates the 24% the lottery withholds at claim time with the 37% top federal bracket you actually owe. Those are different numbers with a gap of millions of dollars, and the gap becomes a tax bill months later. This is the single most common financial shock reported by jackpot winners.
Second, a flat rate ignores the bracket ladder entirely. Even for a nine-figure prize, the lower brackets are worth real money, and for the annuity option, they apply thirty separate times.
What we do differently
- Federal tax is computed across the full 2026 bracket ladder, and the mandatory 24% withholding is reported as a separate line so you can see what is still owed.
- The annuity is modelled payment by payment: all 30 instalments, each 5% larger than the last, taxed in its own year.
- State rates distinguish between states with no income tax and states like California and Delaware that tax income but exempt lottery prizes by statute.
- Local taxes, such as New York City's additional 3.876%, are modelled separately rather than ignored.
Where the numbers come from
Jackpot and cash values are retrieved directly from the official Powerball and Mega Millions sources and refresh every 15 minutes. When a source is unreachable we say so on the page rather than showing a stale figure as though it were current.
Federal brackets are the published IRS figures for tax year 2026. State rates are each state's top marginal individual income tax rate as applied to lottery winnings, drawn from the Tax Foundation's annual survey and cross-checked against statutory exemptions, current as of 2026-01-01.
One honest caveat: the amount a lottery withholds at claim time often differs from the top marginal rate, usually by withholding less. We model what you ultimately owe, because that is what determines how much you keep. Every page says so.
What this is not
It is not tax advice, and it cannot account for your full circumstances: other income, deductions, charitable structures, trusts, or multi-state filing. It is a good estimate and a starting point for a conversation with a CPA. See our guide to the first 72 hours for how to find one.
Contact
Corrections are genuinely welcome, particularly on state tax figures. They change every legislative session. Email hello@lotteryplan.app.