Georgia lottery tax in 2026: one flat rate and a long state line
Georgia taxes its lottery prizes at a single rate, 4.99 % for 2026, and holds that rate back on any prize over $5,000, whoever the winner is.
- Georgia rate 2026
- 4.99 %
- Withholding
- 4.99 % over $5,000
- Standard deduction
- $15,000 single
- Credit
- Form 500, line 18
Lump sum after all taxes
$155,209,570
42.0 % of the prize goes to tax: $112,290,430. $77,548,250 is withheld at the claim, the rest is due with the 2026 return.
| Prize this year | $267,500,000 |
| Federal income tax (top rate reached 37 %) | $98,942,180 |
| Georgia tax | $13,348,250 |
| Withheld when the prize is paid | $77,548,250 |
| Still to pay with the return | $34,742,180 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How we calculate · brackets, state rates and lottery rules read on official sites · estimate, not tax advice
A Georgia Lottery prize is ordinary income for Georgia at the flat rate of 4.99 % that applies to 2026, after a rate cut enacted in 2026 and made retroactive to January 1. The lottery withholds 4.99 % of the total amount won on any prize over $5,000, for residents and nonresidents. A single Georgian who wins $75,000 owes Georgia $3,743 and the IRS $16,114, and keeps $55,144. On the Powerball cash value of $267.5 million the Georgia share is $13,348,250. Georgia lists lottery winnings among the Georgia source income of nonresidents, so a Floridian or a Tennessean who buys the winning ticket in Georgia pays Georgia $24,282 on a $500,000 prize, with nothing to offset it at home. Residents who win in another state claim the Other State(s) Tax Credit on Form 500.
A Georgia prize after tax
Lump sum after all taxes
$55,144
| Prize this year | $75,000 |
| Federal income tax (top rate reached 24 %) | $16,114 |
| Georgia tax | $3,743 |
| Withheld when the prize is paid | $21,743 |
The rate for 2026
Georgia moved to a single income tax rate a few years ago and has lowered it since. For 2026 the rate is 4.99 %, after the Georgia Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2026 cut it retroactively to January 1; the same act raised the standard deduction to $15,000 for a single filer and $30,000 for a married couple filing jointly (Georgia DOR 2026 Employer's Tax Guide). A lottery prize adds to the rest of the year's income and is taxed at that rate from the first dollar above the deduction.
Because the rate is flat, a larger prize or a joint return changes the Georgia share very little in percentage terms. The federal share behaves differently: the brackets of Rev. Proc. 2025-32 push a large prize into the top federal rate.
| Georgia winner | Georgia tax | Federal tax | Kept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single, $75,000 prize | $3,743 | $16,114 | $55,144 |
| Married couple, $5,000,000 prize, other income $110,000 | $249,500 | $1,792,111 | $2,958,390 |
| Single, Powerball cash value of the October 21, 2026 drawing | $13,348,250 | $98,942,180 | $155,209,570 |
What the Georgia Lottery holds back
Georgia law sets the withholding on lottery winnings: winnings of more than $5,000 paid by the Georgia Lottery are withheld at 4.99 % of the total amount won (O.C.G.A. 48-7-101, quoted in the 2026 Employer's Tax Guide), and the Department's rule 560-7-8 applies that withholding to residents and nonresidents (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 560-7-8). Because the withholding rate equals the tax rate, the Georgia withholding usually comes close to the Georgia tax; on $75,000 the lottery holds $3,743 against $3,743 owed, the two match here because the winner's other income already uses up the standard deduction. A winner with little other income owes less than was withheld and gets the difference back.
The federal side is where the April surprise sits: $18,000 withheld at 24 % against $16,114 of federal tax on the same prize. The withholding calculator shows the gap for any amount.
Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina buyers
Georgia shares borders with two states that have no income tax and one that has a higher rate than its own. The Department's residency page lists Georgia lottery winnings among the income a nonresident reports on Form 500 with Schedule 3 (Georgia DOR, residency filing requirements); the official text read gives no minimum prize for that rule.
| Winner | Tax to the ticket state | Tax to the home state | Kept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida resident, Georgia ticket | $24,282 | $0 | $321,604 |
| Tennessee resident, Georgia ticket | $24,282 | $0 | $321,604 |
| South Carolina resident, Georgia ticket | $24,282 | $0 | $321,604 |
| Georgia resident, Florida ticket | $0 | $24,950 | $320,936 |
| Georgia resident, South Carolina ticket | $24,490 | $668 | $320,728 |
For the Floridian and the Tennessean, the Georgia tax is a pure cost: neither Florida nor Tennessee taxes the prize, so there is nothing at home to credit it against. Had they bought the same ticket at home, no state tax would apply at all. The South Carolina resident pays Georgia first. South Carolina taxes its residents on their income and offers a credit for tax paid to another state on SC1040TC, but the South Carolina pages read for this site do not state in so many words how an out-of-state lottery prize is treated, so the table shows no South Carolina line rather than a guess.
The reverse trips differ. Florida does not tax a nonresident on a Florida Lottery prize, so a Georgian who wins in Florida simply pays Georgia in full. A Georgian who wins in South Carolina pays South Carolina as a nonresident, $24,490 on the example, and then reports the prize to Georgia, which credits $24,282. The credit is capped at the share of the Georgia tax that the prize represents, so $668 remains due to Georgia even though South Carolina's rate is the higher one.
The Other State(s) Tax Credit
The credit sits on Form 500, line 18, with the worksheet in the IT-511 booklet (2025 IT-511 booklet). It is the lesser of the Georgia tax on the income taxed elsewhere, after a prorated share of deductions, and the tax shown on the other state's return. A copy of that return must be attached. The credit covers taxes of other states, the District of Columbia and US local income taxes. When the other state's rate is higher than Georgia's, the extra stays with the other state: Georgia never refunds more than its own tax on the income. How each state credits the other compares the forms.
Gambling losses and annuity payments
The IT-511 booklet tells Georgia itemizers to submit federal Schedule A, which is where gambling losses are claimed federally, limited from 2026 to 90 % of the losses and to the winnings (the federal loss limit). The booklet read contains no explicit Georgia text on gambling losses, so this page gives no Georgia figure for them. Gambling is a paid pastime, not a plan; free help is at 1-800-MY-RESET.
A Georgia Lottery winner who takes the annuity and then moves away keeps receiving payments from a Georgia source. The Department lists Georgia lottery winnings as Georgia source income of nonresidents; it does not mention installments expressly, so the continued Georgia tax on later payments is a reading of that rule rather than a quoted line. Moving after a win covers the other states.
All figures here are estimates on the 2026 rules for simple cases, not tax advice for a given return.