What each of the 30 Mega Millions annuity checks would actually pay in a state with no income tax
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A Mega Millions winner who takes the annuity gets one payment right away and 29 more, one a year, each 5% bigger than the last. On the $529 million jackpot for Tuesday, November 10, that works out to checks from about $8 million to $32.8 million before tax. In a state with no income tax, the only tax on those checks is federal.
Mega Millions is sold in seven places with no state tax on the prize: Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. California also exempts its own lottery prizes. Here is what the checks look like there, next to New York, where the top rate is 10.9%.
| Payment | Before tax | Federal tax | Kept, no-tax state | Kept, New York |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st (immediate) | $7,962,209 | $2,896,018 | $5,066,192 | $4,198,311 |
| 2nd | $8,360,320 | $3,043,319 | $5,317,001 | $4,405,726 |
| 3rd | $8,778,336 | $3,197,984 | $5,580,351 | $4,623,513 |
| 4th | $9,217,252 | $3,360,384 | $5,856,869 | $4,852,188 |
| 5th | $9,678,115 | $3,530,903 | $6,147,212 | $5,092,298 |
| 6th | $10,162,021 | $3,709,948 | $6,452,073 | $5,344,413 |
| 7th | $10,670,122 | $3,897,945 | $6,772,176 | $5,609,133 |
| 8th | $11,203,628 | $4,095,343 | $7,108,285 | $5,887,090 |
| 9th | $11,763,809 | $4,302,610 | $7,461,200 | $6,178,944 |
| 10th | $12,352,000 | $4,520,240 | $7,831,760 | $6,485,392 |
| 11th | $12,969,600 | $4,748,752 | $8,220,848 | $6,807,161 |
| 12th | $13,618,080 | $4,988,690 | $8,629,390 | $7,145,019 |
| 13th | $14,298,984 | $5,240,624 | $9,058,359 | $7,499,770 |
| 14th | $15,013,933 | $5,505,155 | $9,508,777 | $7,872,259 |
| 15th | $15,764,630 | $5,782,913 | $9,981,716 | $8,263,372 |
| 16th | $16,552,861 | $6,074,559 | $10,478,302 | $8,674,040 |
| 17th | $17,380,504 | $6,380,787 | $10,999,717 | $9,105,242 |
| 18th | $18,249,529 | $6,702,326 | $11,547,203 | $9,558,004 |
| 19th | $19,162,006 | $7,039,942 | $12,122,063 | $10,033,405 |
| 20th | $20,120,106 | $7,394,439 | $12,725,667 | $10,532,575 |
| 21st | $21,126,111 | $7,766,661 | $13,359,450 | $11,056,704 |
| 22nd | $22,182,417 | $8,157,494 | $14,024,922 | $11,607,039 |
| 23rd | $23,291,538 | $8,567,869 | $14,723,668 | $12,184,891 |
| 24th | $24,456,115 | $8,998,763 | $15,457,352 | $12,791,635 |
| 25th | $25,678,920 | $9,451,201 | $16,227,720 | $13,428,717 |
| 26th | $26,962,866 | $9,926,261 | $17,036,606 | $14,097,653 |
| 27th | $28,311,010 | $10,425,074 | $17,885,936 | $14,800,036 |
| 28th | $29,726,560 | $10,948,827 | $18,777,733 | $15,537,538 |
| 29th | $31,212,888 | $11,498,769 | $19,714,119 | $16,311,914 |
| 30th (final) | $32,773,533 | $12,076,207 | $20,697,325 | $17,125,010 |
| All 30 | $529,000,000 | $194,230,007 | $334,769,992 | $277,108,992 |
Federal tax takes between 36.4% and 36.8% of each check, because nearly all of a multimillion-dollar payment falls in the 37% bracket. Over 30 years, a winner in a no-tax state keeps about $334.8 million and a New York winner about $277.1 million. Taking the $224.2 million cash option instead would leave about $141.3 million after federal tax in a no-tax state and about $116.9 million in New York.
Those totals aren't directly comparable. The cash arrives now, and money invested for decades can grow, while the annuity's later checks will buy less than the same sum would now. The annuity does guarantee the payments, and if the winner dies, the rest go to the estate, as our explainer on inherited prizes covers. The tradeoffs are laid out in lump sum versus annuity, and the full payment-by-payment list is in our Mega Millions annuity schedule.
Mega Millions has cost $5 a play since April 2025, and the jackpot has rolled since nobody won on November 6. A single play hits it 1 in 290,472,336 times. With the Powerball jackpot reset to $20 million after the $847 million New Jersey win, this is the big jackpot in play for now. The Mega Millions analysis page and the tax calculator update with the jackpot.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much is each Mega Millions annuity payment after taxes?
On the $529 million jackpot for November 10, 2026, the first payment is about $8 million before tax and about $5.1 million after 2026 federal tax in a state with no income tax. The 30th payment is about $32.8 million, or $20.7 million after federal tax.
Do you pay state tax on a Mega Millions annuity in Texas or Florida?
No. Texas and Florida have no state income tax, so only federal tax comes out of each annuity payment. The same is true in Washington, Tennessee, South Dakota, Wyoming, and New Hampshire, and California exempts its own lottery prizes.
Is the Mega Millions annuity worth more than the cash option after taxes?
In total dollars, yes. In a no-tax state the 30 payments net about $334.8 million after federal tax, against about $141.3 million for the $224.2 million cash option. The cash comes at once, though, and the annuity takes 29 years.
Jessie Jurado is a news writer who covers new scratch-off launches, state lottery guides, taxes on winnings, news, and much more. She joined ScratchCheck in 2026 and writes the site's state-by-state coverage.
