The jackpot for the Powerball lottery drawing is now up over a billion dollars. No one has taken home the game's top prize since July. Only three other Powerball jackpots have been higher than the current estimated $1.04-billion pre-tax payout. The next drawing is tonight, with a cash option of just over $478-million. If you choose the lump sum, here’s the tax situation: a 24% federal tax withholding is taken right away, dropping the lump sum estimate to about $363.4 million. BUT because the federal government counts lottery winnings as income, the winner could be moved into a tax bracket facing a tax rate as high as 37%, which could drop the lump sum to around $301.3 million. Then there are the state taxes. Good luck!