Tax Disclaimer

Estimates only. Not tax advice.

Lottery Dreams shows you a best-effort estimate of after-tax winnings. It is not a substitute for a CPA, tax attorney, enrolled agent, or financial advisor. If you actually win, please — please — hire a professional before you do anything else.

Last updated: April 21, 2026  ·  Effective: April 21, 2026

1. What Lottery Dreams is

Lottery Dreams is an iOS application and website operated by BagYak, LLC ("we," "us," or "Lottery Dreams"). It provides estimates of the after-tax cash value of advertised U.S. lottery jackpots (currently Powerball and Mega Millions) using publicly available federal, state, and, where applicable, local tax rates. The estimates are designed to illustrate the general magnitude of taxes owed on a hypothetical lump-sum prize. They are informational only.

2. What Lottery Dreams is not

  • It is not tax advice. Nothing in the app or on this site constitutes tax, legal, accounting, investment, financial, or estate-planning advice.
  • It is not a tax return, tax preparation software, or a withholding calculator for wages.
  • It is not affiliated with the Multi-State Lottery Association, Powerball, Mega Millions, the IRS, any state lottery commission, or any taxing authority.
  • It does not predict whether you will win, whether a ticket will be a winner, or what any advertised jackpot will grow to.
  • It does not account for your full personal tax situation. Deductions, credits, charitable contributions, entity structures (e.g., trusts or LLCs claiming the prize), payment elections, and existing liabilities can materially change the real number.

3. Limitations of the estimate

Our numbers come from publicly available tax tables and are updated in good faith on a regular cadence. They can still be wrong for any of the following reasons:

  • Tax law changes. Federal brackets, state rates, and local surtaxes change. There can be a lag between a change being enacted and our tables reflecting it.
  • Jurisdictional quirks. Some states do not tax lottery winnings; some tax them at a different rate than ordinary income; some localities (counties, parishes, cities, school districts) levy their own tax; a few jurisdictions have tie-breakers or reciprocity rules we do not model.
  • Withholding vs. liability. We separate mandatory withholding from total tax owed at filing, but the actual gap depends on your full return.
  • Non-resident prizes. Winning a ticket in a state you do not live in may trigger nonresident filing obligations we do not simulate.
  • Annuity vs. lump sum. The app defaults to the lump-sum cash value. Annuity winners face a different timing and, potentially, a different effective rate.
  • Other income. If you have other income in the year of the prize, the real marginal rate may differ from what we display.
If your take-home changes by a million dollars based on a decision, you need a human professional. We are a calculator. We are not your lawyer.

4. No client relationship

Using Lottery Dreams does not create an attorney–client, accountant–client, or fiduciary relationship between you and BagYak, LLC. Nothing you enter into the app is privileged. We do not retain or review your inputs in a way that constitutes personalized advice.

5. If you actually win

This is the part where we sound like a parent. Please:

  1. Sign the back of the ticket. Photograph it. Put it somewhere safe.
  2. Do not announce the win publicly. Do not post about it.
  3. Contact a CPA and a tax/estate attorney licensed in your state. Ideally, both, before you contact the lottery.
  4. Ask about a claiming entity (trust or LLC), annuity vs. lump sum, and your state's anonymity rules.
  5. Only then contact the lottery commission to claim.

A good professional will save you many multiples of their fee. Use us to imagine the number; use them to keep it.

6. No warranty

The app and this site are provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that estimates are accurate, complete, current, or applicable to your situation.

7. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, BagYak, LLC and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, and licensors are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from your use of Lottery Dreams, including but not limited to tax liability, penalties, interest, missed deadlines, overpayment, or underpayment. If a court finds any part of this disclaimer unenforceable, our aggregate liability to you for any claim related to the app or site is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid us for the subscription in the twelve months before the claim or (b) US $100.

8. Jurisdiction

This disclaimer is governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles. Disputes will be resolved as described in our Terms of Use.

9. Updates

We may update this disclaimer when tax law, app functionality, or company structure changes. Material changes will be reflected in the "Last updated" date above and, where meaningful, surfaced in the app before they take effect.

10. Questions

If something on this page is unclear, use the contact form and pick the "Legal & privacy" topic. We read every note.

One-line version: Lottery Dreams gives you a ballpark after-tax number. If you win, hire a pro before you do anything else.