Here’s why the Survivor 50 winner won’t be able to keep all of their $2 million prize pot

The winner of Survivor 50 is set to get a whopping $2 million prize pot, but as it turs out they legally won’t be allowed to keep the full amount. So let’s look into the painful exact amount they’ll be looking at losing, as well as how much the previous winners have had to give away.

Unlike other countries, in the USA winnings from a game show, TV show or competition don’t count as gift and are instead treated as ordinary income. So in the eyes of the taxman, the winner of Survivor 50 will need to pay a hefty amount of tax on their $2 million winnings.

According to USA tax laws the production company must immediately withhold 24 per cent federal tax if a prize is over $5k. As a result of the prize money being so high the winner will be charged around 37 per cent federal tax on their winnings, which is an instant $740k gone.

The winner will also have to pay state tax with the percentage dependent on where they live, with some states having 0 per cent tax whilst others have eight to 13 per cent.

If Aubry was to win she’d get hit with one of the highest state taxes as she lives in LA, which has a 13.3 per cent state tax. As such she’d have to pay between $180k to $265k extra. After all the deductions she’d be left with between $1,080,000 and $995k.

However, someone such as Joe would get to keep more as he lives in Virginia which only has 5.75 per cent state tax, meaning he’d only have to pay $115k.

Still, no matter who the winner of Survivor 50 is, they’re almost certainly going to end up a millionaire either way!

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