Survivor
CBS via Getty Images
Survivor 50’s record two million dollar prize will hand its winner a life-changing payout — and an equally outsized tax bill. Federal and state taxes could claim more than eight hundred thousand dollars of the jackpot, depending on where the champion lives and how much other income they earn this year.
This season’s finalists — Aubry Bracco, Tiffany Ervin, Joe Hunter, Rizo Velovic, and Jonathan Young — are competing for the show’s biggest prize in its 25-year history. One of them will walk away with the title of sole Survivor, but the second-place winner will be an unnamed contestant: the government, which will take a significant share of the winnings.
Why Game Show Winnings Get Taxed
Under Section 61 of the Internal Revenue Code, nearly all forms of income are subject to taxation unless specifically excluded. This definition extends from salaries and wages to income from tips and bonuses, all the way to income received from competing on a game show.
Game show winnings have sparked controversy in the past as contestants on shows like Jeopardy and The Price is Right often win big prizes, only to face a substantial tax bill. As documented by the San Francisco Chronicle, the value of all winnings — whether cash or prizes — counts as taxable income. All else equal, a contestant would rather win something than not win something, but the unexpected tax bill can sometimes be problematic.
For instance, if a contestant wins a trip valued at $10,000, the prize does not come free. The winner receives the trip along with a tax form documenting its value. When tax season arrives, that $10,000 is added to the taxpayer’s income. If the taxpayer is in the top federal bracket, they will owe roughly $3,700 in income taxes on the prize alone.
How Survivor Winners Get Hit With Taxes
Season 49 winner Savannah Louie recently made headlines when discussing her Survivor-related taxes. As reported by E! News, after Louie was announced as the season’s sole Survivor, she received a check for $1 million — and then wrote a check for $380,000 to cover her tax liabilities.
The bill is so significant because winning $1 million pushes a contestant into the top federal income tax bracket, which carries a marginal rate of 37% for single filers earning more than $640,601. Even if the contestant earns no other income that year, they would owe approximately $320,000 in federal taxes. Past winners, including Season 1 champion Richard Hatch, have faced legal trouble for failing to report their winnings.
State taxes add another layer. Depending on where the winner lives, state income tax can range from 0% in nine states (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming) to Arizona’s flat 2.5% rate, all the way up to 13.3% in California. A high-income taxpayer living in California could owe more than half of their Survivor winnings to combined federal and state taxes.
What The Survivor 50 Winner Could Owe
(Spoilers included below)
The original Survivor 50 prize stood at $1 million. However, in an appearance by MrBeast this season, Rick Devens correctly flipped a coin to double the grand prize to $2 million.
While the winner has not yet been announced, prediction market activity on Kalshi currently shows Aubry Bracco as the heavy favorite, with traders assigning her a 98% implied probability of winning. These markets reflect participant sentiment rather than confirmed results, but if Bracco does win, both the federal government and the state of Oregon stand to benefit.
Public reporting from Parade indicates that Bracco most recently resided in Oregon. The state applies a 9.9% income tax rate on income over $125,000. This means she could owe more than $160,000 to Oregon, in addition to more than $640,000 in federal taxes. While these estimates rely on simplifying assumptions — including residency, deductions and other income — they illustrate how much of the prize will ultimately go to taxes.
Despite the significant tax liability associated with winning Survivor 50, the victor will still take home more than $1 million in after-tax earnings. And potentially more importantly for the contestant, they will earn the title of winner of one of the most competitive seasons in Survivor history.
