Pennsylvania lottery rules
You have 365 days to claim in Pennsylvania, the state withholds 3.07% and winners are named.
What we can confirm
- Time to claim
- 365 days from the drawing. source, checked 16 Sep 2026
- State tax withheld
- 3.07%, on top of federal withholding. source, checked 16 Sep 2026
- Whether you are named
- Name is released. source, checked 16 Sep 2026
- What a shop can pay you
- Up to $2,500 in cash at a retailer. Above that means a lottery office or a claim by post. source, checked 16 Sep 2026
- Minimum age
- 18 to buy a ticket or claim a prize. source, checked 16 Sep 2026
When sales stop in Pennsylvania
- Mega Millions
- 9:59 PM on a drawing night, Eastern time. Buying after that puts you in the next drawing instead. source, checked 17 Sep 2026
- Powerball
- 9:59 PM on a drawing night, Eastern time. Buying after that puts you in the next drawing instead. source, checked 17 Sep 2026
Retailers often stop earlier than the state deadline, and a machine that has closed for the night has closed whatever the published time says. Leave yourself more than the last minute.
What we could not confirm
This page shows 5 things about Pennsylvania, and only what we found stated on a page we could open and cite. Where Pennsylvania Lottery does not publish a figure, it is missing here rather than estimated. A claim deadline or a tax rate invented to fill a gap is how somebody loses money they had already won.
Check a Pennsylvania ticket
Where you bought a ticket changes what it is worth, so tell us the state when you save one.
Claiming, from the people who pay
We are not a lottery operator and we cannot pay a prize. Pennsylvania Lottery can: https://www.palottery.pa.gov
Everything above was last checked on 16 September 2026. State rules change, and the lottery's own page is the one that counts.