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Does your state have a lottery? If so, at what rate does it withhold federal tax on major prizes?
Internal Revenue Code Section 3404 says:
(q)Extension of withholding to certain gambling winnings
(1)General rule
Every person, including the Government of the United States, a State, or a political subdivision thereof, or any instrumentalities of the foregoing, making any payment of winnings which are subject to withholding shall deduct and withhold from such payment a tax in an amount equal to the product of the third lowest rate of tax applicable under section 1(c) and such payment.
So what is the third lowest tax rate under Section 1( c)? When I look at it, I see the three lowest rates for years 2018 through 2025 are 10%, 12% and 22%.
Yet IRS in its instructions to Form W-2G tells lotteries to withhold at 24%, and that’s what they do here in Arizona. I checked California, and that’s their rate also.
Am I missing something? Or is this just another case of “when IRS says jump, we just ask how high” ?