Lottery tax calculator
Enter a prize and your state. See what federal and state tax take, and what you keep.
Enter an amount to see the breakdown.
An estimate, not tax advice. It assumes a single filer and does not count your other income or deductions, so your real bill depends on your return.
What it does
You enter a prize and pick your state. The calculator takes off federal tax, then state tax, and shows what is left.
Federal tax is the part people get wrong. A large win has 24 percent withheld before you see the money, but the top federal rate is 37 percent. The withheld amount is a down payment, not the final bill, and the rest is due when you file. The figure here includes both, so the number is not a surprise in April.
State tax varies. Some states take nothing from a lottery win. Others take up to around 11 percent. We use the rate published for each state, with the source on that state's page.
Cash or annuity changes the sum. The advertised jackpot is the annuity, paid over 30 years. The cash option is a smaller amount the lottery sets, and we never guess it, so for a cash payout enter the figure from your ticket or the lottery site.
Sources: the federal brackets are the 2026 figures from the IRS. State rates come from our lottery rules by state pages, each with its own source and date.
Questions people ask
- Are lottery losses tax deductible?
- Rarely. You can deduct them only if you itemize, and only up to what you won that year. Someone who only ever lost deducts nothing.
- Can you write off losing lottery tickets?
- Only against winnings. Losing tickets offset gambling winnings you report, never your ordinary income. With no winnings, there is nothing to write them off against.
- Do you have to itemize to deduct gambling losses?
- Yes. The deduction goes on Schedule A, so taking the standard deduction rules it out. Most people take the standard deduction, which is why most cannot claim these losses.
- How much of my lottery losses can I deduct?
- For 2026, up to 90 percent of what you lost, and never more than what you won. Before 2026 it was the full loss, still capped at your winnings. The 90 percent cap is new for tax years starting in 2026.
- Do I have to report lottery winnings?
- Yes. Prizes are taxable income whatever the size, and a large win is reported to the IRS on a W-2G. You report the winnings even in a year you cannot deduct a single losing ticket.
- Does my state let me deduct lottery losses?
- It depends. Some states follow the federal rules and some do not allow the deduction at all. Check your own state, or ask whoever prepares your return.