Lottery annuity calculator: 30 payments, 30 tax bills

The formula behind the schedule

Powerball pays "30 increasing payments over 29 years" that "increase by 5% each year" (Powerball FAQ), and Mega Millions "an initial annual payment followed by 29 annual payments", each "5 percent larger" (Mega Millions FAQ). If J is the advertised jackpot, the payments form a geometric series whose sum is J. The first payment P1 is J × 0.05 ÷ (1.05³⁰ − 1), and payment k is P1 × 1.05 to the power k − 1. The calculator applies it to any amount you enter, and an automated test checks that the 30 payments add up to the jackpot to the cent (method).

From $20 million to $1 billion

Because the formula is proportional, the schedule scales with the jackpot, but the tax does not scale quite as neatly: the lower brackets and the standard deduction weigh a little more on smaller payments. The table runs six jackpots for the same Colorado resident.

The share kept rises only slightly from the smallest to the largest jackpot, because even on $20 million each payment reaches the 37 % federal bracket (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). An annuity on a $1,000,000 prize would be another matter: the first payment, $15,051, sits in the middle brackets, and the annuity then does lower the rate. Multistate games do not offer annuities on their fixed prizes, but some state games pay prizes over time; the calculator handles any amount.

How to read the 30 lines

Each line of the calculator gives the payment, the federal tax, the state tax, the city or county tax where one applies, and the net. The federal tax of a line is the tax of a year with the installment minus the tax of the same year without it, so your other income for the year matters: a winner who keeps a salary pays a little more on each installment than one who stops working. Enter your expected other income in the advanced fields. The lottery withholds 24 % federal tax on each installment (Form W-2G instructions); the line's federal tax minus that withholding is what you pay with that year's return.

The cash field

The calculator also asks for the cash value, used when you switch the payment to a lump sum. Its default here, $42,100,000, applies to $100 million the ratio between cash and jackpot of the Powerball drawing of October 21, 2026; the real ratio of your jackpot is published by the game with each drawing and moves with interest rates. Replace it with the published figure to compare both options on the same screen.

What the calculator keeps constant

Thirty years is longer than any tax law lasts. The calculator applies the 2026 brackets, rates and deductions to every year and says so on each result. It does not guess future inflation adjustments, which would widen the brackets slightly, nor future rate changes, which nobody can know. It keeps your filing status and your state as entered; to see a move, run the calculator twice and read the years before and after it. Federal estate tax, gift tax on money given to family, and the tax on the income that the payments themselves will earn once invested are outside the calculation.

City tax every year

The New York City line of the summary loses $58,339 to the city on the first payment alone, because the city taxes residents on their New York taxable income (Form IT-2105-I, New York City rates). The same applies to Yonkers residents through a surcharge on the state tax, and to Maryland residents through the county tax. A winner who lives in one of those places pays it on every installment for as long as he stays. New York City lottery tax and Maryland lottery tax detail both.

The schedule describes payments that only a jackpot winner will see; it is not an invitation to play. If gambling stops being fun, help is free and confidential at 1-800-MY-RESET.