Powerball cash value: the lump sum, shared or not, after tax
For the October 21, 2026 drawing the cash value is $267.5 million, 42.1 % of the $635 million jackpot. This page explains the gap and the tax on the cash.
- Cash value
- $267.5 million
- Share of the jackpot
- 42.1 %
- Federal withholding
- 24 %
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
The cash value is the money actually in the Powerball jackpot pool on the drawing day; the advertised jackpot is what that money would pay if it bought a 30-year annuity. For the October 21, 2026 drawing, $267.5 million of cash stands behind the $635 million advertised, or 42.1 %. A winner who takes the cash is taxed on $267.5 million, all in one year. The federal tax is $98,942,180 for a single filer, the lottery withholds only $64,200,000 of it, and the state comes on top: a Georgia resident pays $13,348,250 to Georgia and keeps $155,209,570, a Minnesota resident keeps $142,212,918, a resident of Montgomery County, Maryland, keeps $142,615,891 after state and county tax. When two tickets match, each receives half the cash value, $133,750,000, and pays tax on that half only, at nearly the same rate, since half a jackpot is still deep in the top federal bracket.
Cash value after tax in your state
Lump sum after all taxes
$155,209,570
| 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 |
Where the cash value comes from
The Powerball FAQ defines it in one sentence: the cash value option is, in general, "the amount of money required to be in the jackpot prize pool, on the day of the drawing, to fund the estimated jackpot annuity prize" (Powerball FAQ). Both the cash value and the annuity are estimates until ticket sales are final and, for the annuity, until the Multi-State Lottery Association has taken bids on the securities that will fund the 30 payments. The advertised jackpot is therefore a converted figure: the cash, invested at the interest rates of the day, turned into 30 payments growing 5 % a year.
That explains why the ratio between the two numbers is not fixed. When long-term interest rates are high, a given amount of cash buys a larger annuity, so the advertised jackpot rises further above the cash. On the October 21, 2026 example, the cash value is 42.1 % of the advertised amount. It also explains why the cash is the figure that matters for tax: it is the amount a winner who chooses it actually receives, and the IRS taxes what is paid, not what is advertised.
A jackpot shared by several tickets
When several tickets match all six numbers, the jackpot is pari-mutuel: it is divided equally among the winning tickets. The Powerball FAQ, which now describes the jackpot pool shared with ticket sales in the United Kingdom, gives the mechanism: with two winning tickets, each receives one half of the jackpot's cash value, and a US winner then chooses between the annuity and the cash on his share. Tax follows the share: each winner reports only what he receives.
| Winning tickets | Cash value per ticket | Federal tax | Georgia tax | Kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | $267,500,000 | $98,942,180 | $13,348,250 | $155,209,570 |
| Two | $133,750,000 | $49,454,680 | $6,674,125 | $77,621,195 |
| Three | $89,166,667 | $32,958,847 | $4,449,417 | $51,758,403 |
The effective federal rate barely moves between one and three winners (37.0 %, 37.0 %, 37.0 %), because each share stays far above the $640,600 threshold of the 37 % bracket (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). Sharing divides the prize, not the rate. The state side behaves the same way in Georgia, whose single 2026 rate of 4.99 % applies to each share in full; only a share small enough to fall below the federal top bracket would change the picture, and no Powerball jackpot share comes close to that. A ticket bought by a group is a different case: one ticket, several owners, handled by Form 5754 and explained in lottery pool taxes.
The cash value in a state with a flat rate
States with one rate make the arithmetic simple: the state takes its rate on the whole cash. Arizona's 2026 rate is 2.5 %, so an Arizona resident with an Arizona ticket pays $6,687,500 to the state and keeps $161,870,320. Graduated states such as Minnesota reach their top rate quickly on a jackpot, which then works like a flat rate on nearly all of it: $26,344,901 for Minnesota. Maryland adds a county tax on top of the state tax; the Montgomery County resident of the summary pays $8,560,000 to the county alone. Lottery tax by state lists all 51 jurisdictions on the same prize.
Cash in hand, tax in April
The lottery withholds 24 % for the IRS when it pays the cash (Form W-2G instructions), so the Georgia winner receives the cash minus $64,200,000 of federal withholding and minus the Georgia withholding. The rest of the federal tax, $34,742,180, is due with the 2026 return. A winner who spends or invests the full check without setting that money aside can end up short in April; withholding against the tax due computes the gap for any state.
The cash value is not a better or worse choice in itself. It puts the whole prize in one tax year and in the state where the winner lives that year, while the annuity spreads the tax over 30 years and over whatever states the winner lives in. The Powerball payout schedule shows the other side. The figures describe the rules; they are not tax advice, and gambling should stay entertainment: 1-800-MY-RESET.