A July 20 Facebook post (direct link, archived link) claims federal tax collectors are in for a big payday.
“Congratulations to the IRS on winning ~ $600 million in the Powerball lottery last night,” reads the post from the conservative website For America.
The post was shared more than 18,000 times in four days.
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Experts say the federal income tax on those winnings falls between roughly $200 million and $450 million, depending on whether the lottery winner takes a smaller lump sum immediately or opts to spread the full amount over time.
A single ticket sold in California matched all the numbers July 19 for the third-largest Powerball jackpot in history. The winner has the option of taking either the full $1.08 billion spread over time or a single payout of $558.1 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs the Powerball game.
In either case, experts say there is no way the winner will pay $600 million in federal taxes on those winnings.
“No, certainly not that I can come up with,” said Will McBride, vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy nonprofit.
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