Lottery tax by state: the 51 rules side by side

How to read the table

Each row describes a resident who bought the winning ticket in the home state, takes a $1,000,000 prize and has $60,000 of other income as a single filer. The second column is the state income tax that the prize adds, at the 2026 rates of that state. The third gives the state withholding that the lottery applies at the claim to residents, with the prize threshold above which it starts. The fourth says whether the state taxes a nonresident who wins on one of its tickets, and the last names the form a resident uses to claim a credit for tax paid to another state on a prize won there. Every entry comes from a state revenue department, a state lottery or a statute, read on October 20, 2026.

The tax figure is the increase in the state's tax caused by the prize, not the prize times the top rate. A state with graduated brackets taxes the first dollars of the prize at the rate the winner's wages had already reached and the rest at higher rates, so the figure depends on the other income entered. A flat tax state such as Illinois or Pennsylvania gives the same percentage at any income.

The five highest state bills

The top of the ranking belongs to states with high top rates that reach almost the whole prize: Oregon ($98,219), Minnesota ($94,651), the District of Columbia ($94,475), Vermont ($84,614) and New Jersey ($79,201). On a jackpot the gaps become very large. Applied to the $170.3 million cash value of the Mega Millions drawing of October 20, 2026, the Oregon tax is $16,858,919, before any city or county tax, while a Florida resident pays no state tax at all and keeps $107,321,820.

A few states add a local layer that this table leaves out. New York City and Yonkers tax their residents on top of New York State, and every Maryland county levies its own income tax; the New York City page and the Maryland page add those figures.

Exempt at home is not exempt everywhere

The zero rows hide two different situations. States without a personal income tax, such as Texas or Florida, tax no prize at all, wherever the ticket came from. California, by contrast, exempts only prizes of its own lottery: a Californian who wins on a ticket bought in Arizona or Oregon is taxed by California like any other income. Pennsylvania, often cited as an exempt state, has taxed its own lottery prizes since 2016. A ticket bought in another state shows how the two states share such a prize.

Withholding is not the tax

The withholding column is what the lottery keeps at the claim, a prepayment set by each state's law, often at or near its top rate. It can be higher than the tax actually due on the prize, as in New York, or lower, as in states that withhold a flat rate below their top bracket. The real bill appears on the return. For Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Rhode Island, the official sources read do not state the lottery withholding rate, and this site shows no figure rather than an unverified one. For Mississippi, the source read does not say whether a resident's prize from the home lottery is taxed, so the tax column shows no figure.

Nonresidents and credits

34 jurisdictions tax a nonresident on a prize of their lottery, some only above a threshold, like New York over $5,000 or New Jersey over $10,000. Almost every income tax state then gives its own residents a credit for that tax, limited to its own tax on the same income. Virginia stands out: its instructions exclude lottery and gambling winnings from the credit, so a Virginian who wins on a Maryland ticket pays both states. Arizona, California, Indiana, Oregon and Virginia also use reverse credits with some neighbors, where the state of purchase rather than the home state gives the credit. The credit page explains the mechanics and the nonresident page goes through the source rules.

The figures are estimates built on published 2026 rates and are not tax advice. Lottery play is entertainment that costs money; the 1-800-MY-RESET helpline is free and confidential.