Wyoming Is The Best State To Live In When You Win The Powerball

As if you needed another reason to live in Wyoming, but if you were to win the HUGE Powerball Lottery jackpot, Wyoming is the place to be. See, Wyoming doesn't have a little thing called an income tax.

Sure, the Government is going to nab a significant percentage of your hard-earned lottery win. How much you win and how you take your winnings will impact the tax that you'll pay.

If you take the lump sum, that will likely put you in the highest tax bracket. If you opt for the annual payments, you'll only pay taxes on the yearly payment, which could put you in a lower tax bracket.

Winning a jackpot like the $1.4 billion the Powerball Lottery currently has, I'm not sure it's going to matter which you choose; they're going to get a lot of money from you. On top of the federal taxes, many states are going to get their portion, too.

But not in the great state of Wyoming.

Wyoming is one of only eight states that doesn't impose a "Lottery Tax," which in some states can be as high as 10%.

If you're confident that you'll be worrying about taxes on your Powerball winnings, I found a Lottery Tax Calculator that will break it down for you. I have that same confidence, so I did the work for...us..

***Side Note- The lottery automatically takes 24% out of each payment, then when you file your taxes, you have to pay the difference between that payment and what the IRS says you owe.

Let's say that you live in Wyoming and win the $1.4 billion jackpot, you'll have two options.

Option 1: Lump Sum

$1,400,000,000 - $336,000,000 in taxes at 24% (may be higher, this is what the lottery automatically takes out) = you'll keep an estimated $1,064,000,000

Option 2: Annual Payment

$1,400,000,000 - annual taxes based on 24% (may be higher, this is what the lottery automatically takes out) = Your payments should look like this for the first year and gradually go up from year to year.

• YEAR 1 - $21,072,009 gross payment - 0 in state tax - $5,057,082 in federal tax = $16,014,727
• YEAR 15 - $41,721,137 gross payment - 0 in state tax (assuming you still live in Wyoming) - $10,013,073 in federal tax = $31,708,064
• YEAR 30 - $86,735,247 gross payment - 0 in state tax (assuming you still live in Wyoming and nothing changes) - $20,816,459 in federal tax = $65,918,788 for your final payment.

Which option do you choose?