SNAP Recipients Must Report Lottery Wins Before the Jackpot Changes Everything
Published Date: 6/16/2025
Notice
Summary
If you get SNAP benefits and win big in the lottery or gambling, you have to report it because you might lose eligibility. States will work with gaming groups to spot big winners and keep the program fair. Comments on these rules are open until August 11, 2025, and this update aims to keep things clear and efficient without extra costs.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
Report big lottery/gambling wins or lose SNAP
If you get SNAP and win a large lottery or gambling prize, you must report the winnings to your State SNAP agency because you may become ineligible for SNAP until you meet the program's resource and income limits. The rule ties “substantial winnings” to the resource limit in 7 CFR 273.8(b). FNS estimates about 27,500 SNAP households will receive substantial lottery winnings each year and that roughly 22,540–23,000 winners will be identified through data matches, while about 4,410 households will self-report.
States and gaming groups must share winner data
States are required to set up cooperative agreements with public and private gaming entities to identify large winners using computerized data matching. FNS assumes 49 State public gaming entities and 196 private gaming entities will feed data (about 6,000 individuals per gaming entity) into matching systems; the systems are estimated to identify about 35,280 SNAP participant matches nationwide each year and generate substantive matches of roughly 22,540 actual substantial winners.
Resource checks in 9 States may add short paperwork
Only 9 State SNAP agencies currently verify household resources as part of eligibility; 44 States use broad-based categorical eligibility and do not. If you apply in one of the 9 States that verify resources, you may need to provide proof of assets: FNS estimates providing verification takes about 4 minutes at initial application and 6 minutes at recertification, and that 978,945 households would provide verification at initial certification while 761,438 would at recertification (FY24 data applied).
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