How Much Tax Will You Pay if You Win the Powerball Jackpot in India?

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A standard Powerball jackpot winner from India will have to pay roughly ₹179 crores in taxes, which will leave him with roughly ₹120 crores after deductions.

Before we do the math, please keep in mind that we have considered the following aspects to simplify the calculation:

The amount won is the minimum advertised jackpot for the US Powerball, which is $40 million.
The jackpot has been won off a lottery ticket sold by a lottery agent (online or offline) that doesn’t charge any commission fee on the winning amount.
The payment has been made in a lump sum, which means it is devoid of long-term tax implications associated with annuity payouts.
The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) has been followed and tax has been deducted in India, not in the US.

At the time of writing this article, the Powerball jackpot is valued at ₹3,256,900,000. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll consider it as 3 billion INR or ₹300 crores.

The following taxes will be applicable on this winning amount:

30% Tax Deducted at Source (TDS)
Income Tax (as income from other sources)
- 30% Basic Tax (after TDS deduction)
- 37% Surcharge on the Basic Tax
- 4% Cess on Basic Tax + Surcharge

There is no exemption, whatsoever. Now, let’s do the lottery tax calculation.

30% TDS on ₹300 crores = ₹90 crores
Amount on which income tax would be further deducted: ₹300 crores – ₹90 crores = ₹210 crores
30% Basic Tax on ₹210 crores = ₹63 crores
37% Surcharge on ₹63 crores = ₹23.31 crores
4% Cess on Basic Tax (₹63 crores) + Surcharge (₹23.31 crores) = ₹3.4524
Total tax to be paid = ₹90 crores + ₹63 crores + ₹23.31 crores + ₹3.4524 crores = ₹179.7624 crores
Final amount the winner will receive = ₹300 crores – ₹179.7624 crores = ₹120.2376 crores.

It’s time to visualize your dream jackpot! Given the massive amount of ₹300 crores, ₹120 crores might seem disappointing. But, if you think about it, it’s still a fantastic amount using which you can live life king size!

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