Texas Powerball Winner Poised to Net Millions More Than Missouri Co-Winner After $1.78 Billion Split
Two tickets in Texas and Missouri split the near-record Powerball jackpot; Texas’ lack of a state income tax leaves its winner roughly $16.4 million better off after federal and state levies
Two winning Powerball tickets sold in Texas and Missouri will split a near-record $1.78 billion jackpot, but the ticket sold in Texas is set to yield a larger net payout because Texas does not levy a state income tax.
The Saturday drawing produced two top-prize tickets that divide the advertised $1.78 billion prize into approximately $893.5 million each on the advertised annuity basis. Winners may choose an annuitized payout of that amount paid in 30 installments over 29 years or a lump-sum cash option of about $410.3 million each.
Tax treatment narrows the difference between the advertised amounts but still leaves the Texas ticket holder ahead. The lump-sum figure of roughly $410.3 million would be subject to federal income tax at the top marginal rate. After accounting for the 37% federal rate, each winner’s federal tax bill would reduce the lump sum to about $258.5 million. Missouri imposes an additional state income tax of 4% on lottery winnings, which would reduce the Missouri winner’s share by about $16.4 million compared with the Texas winner, who would owe no state income tax. That gap is driven by the state tax on the lump-sum payout rather than on the advertised annuity amount.
Both winners also will face the Internal Revenue Service’s automatic 24% withholding at payout, with a larger federal tax liability reconciled when the winners file their returns due to the 37% top rate. State law and individual choices about lump sum versus annuity, tax planning and deductions will determine final after-tax amounts.
The Texas ticket was sold at Big’s 103, a gas station convenience store in Fredericksburg, roughly 70 miles northwest of San Antonio. The Texas Lottery said the retailer will be eligible for a bonus of up to $250,000 for selling one of the winning tickets. The store’s manager, Melanie Carter, told NBC News that staff “would never have expected” to be the outlet that sold the winning ticket and expressed a hope it belonged to a local resident. A customer from nearby Kerrville, Carson McCoy, said the flood-ravaged area “needs all the help we can get.”
Missouri officials said the winning ticket sold in that state will be tied to a retail location they expect to disclose within 72 hours of the drawing, or by 10:59 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, according to the Missouri Lottery. Both Missouri and Texas allow big jackpot winners to remain anonymous. Missouri’s anonymity provision took effect in 2021 and makes revealing a winner’s identifying information a Class A misdemeanor; Texas law enacted in 2017 permits prize winners of $1 million or more to opt for anonymity.
Saturday’s winning numbers were 11, 23, 44, 61, 62 and Powerball 17. The jackpot was the first top prize awarded since May, ending a run of 42 consecutive drawings without a grand-prize winner. During that run, Powerball reported more than 100 prizes of $1 million or more and over 1,000 prizes of at least $50,000.
The $1.78 billion payout ranks as the second-largest in Powerball’s 33-year history; only the $2.04 billion prize awarded to a single California ticket in November 2022 was larger. Winners who opt for the annuity will receive the advertised $893.5 million paid over nearly three decades, while those who take the lump-sum option will face immediate tax withholding and subsequent federal and any applicable state income taxes that will significantly reduce the cash in hand.