Winning Powerball ticket helps boost Arkansas tax revenue

Arkansas tax revenue in the first seven months of the fiscal year (July 2025-January 2026) totaled $4.777 billion, up 1.7% compared with the same period in the previous fiscal year and 3.6% above the budget forecast.

The state’s revenue surplus — revenue above the forecast — was $160.3 million at the end of January, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) reported Tuesday (Feb. 3).

The DFA reported that some of the revenue in the fiscal year is from revenue that under normal circumstances would have been recorded in the previous fiscal year. The state agency also said the latest revenue report received a bump from taxes paid on a winning Powerball ticket.

“A notable amount of FY 2026 revenue is due to one-time factors,” noted the DFA report. “An estimated $41 million was shifted from FY 2025 into FY 2026 due to the extension of the filing deadline for individual and corporate income tax payments to provide relief to Arkansans affected by severe weather. Additionally, income tax withheld from the December 2025 Powerball jackpot winnings contributed another $32 million.”

A $1.817 billion Powerball ticket was won by a person who bought the ticket in Cabot for the Dec. 24 drawing. The winner, who remains anonymous, opted for the $834.9 million cash lump sum.

Income tax revenue so far in the fiscal year totals $2.075 billion, up 2.9% compared with the previous fiscal year and 7.3% above the budget forecast. Sales tax revenue in the first seven months of the fiscal year was $2.142 billion, up 3.6% compared with the same period in the previous fiscal year and 2.1% above the forecast.

Corporate income tax revenue through January was $241.9 million, down $50.6 million from the same period in the previous fiscal year and 7.1% below the forecast.

JANUARY COLLECTIONS
January revenue totaled $754 million, up 4.3% compared with January 2025 and 7.3% above the budget forecast. Following are January collections in the key categories.

Income tax
January 2026: $384.3 million
January 2025: $349.9 million
up 9.8%, up 15.5% above budget forecast

Sales tax
January 2026: $317.1 million
January 2025: $298.3 million
up 6.3%, up 3.2% above budget forecast

Corporate income tax
January 2026: $22.3 million
January 2025: $41.9 million
down $19.6 million, $7.6 million below budget forecast

Arkansas ended the previous fiscal year (July 2024 – June 2025) with tax revenue of $8.359 billion, down 4% compared with the previous fiscal year. Tax revenue in the previous fiscal year also resulted in a $367.9 million surplus. The fiscal year ending in June 2024 posted a $698.4 million surplus, and the fiscal year ending June 2023 had a $1.161 billion tax revenue surplus.

OTHER REVENUE SOURCES
Tobacco
July 2025-January 2026: $103.9 million
July 2024-January 2025: $109.4 million

Insurance
July 2025-January 2026: $69.2 million
July 2024-January 2025: $62.9 million

Alcoholic beverages
July 2025-January 2026: $43.4 million
July 2024-January 2025: $44.4 million

Games of skill
July 2025-January 2026: $34.3 million
July 2024-January 2025: $32.4 million

Severance
July 2025-January 2026: $5.4 million
July 2024-January 2025: $6.8 million