Missouri lottery tax in 2026: the state rate, the withholding, the state lines
Missouri taxes a lottery prize at its top rate, 4.7 %, on almost every dollar, and withholds 4 % at the claim.
- Top Missouri rate
- 4.7 %
- State withholding
- 4 % from $600
- Tax-free below
- $600 a year
- Federal withholding
- 24 %
State and local tax, ticket bought in Missouri
$55,800
Bought at home in Kansas: $55,800. Difference: $0.
| Prize this year | $1,000,000 |
| Federal income tax (top rate reached 37 %) | $337,180 |
| Missouri tax as a nonresident | $46,286 |
| Kansas tax before credit | $55,800 |
| Credit for the Missouri tax | -$46,286 |
| Withheld when the prize is paid | $280,000 |
| Still to pay with the return | $112,980 |
| After all taxes | $607,020 |
Missouri taxes nonresidents on prizes of its lottery over $600. Kansas credits the tax paid to Missouri, up to its own tax on the prize.
Compiled by Radif Partners · How we calculate · brackets, state rates and lottery rules read on official sites · estimate, not tax advice
A single Missouri resident who wins $1,000,000 on a Missouri Lottery ticket in 2026 owes Missouri about $47,000 and the IRS $337,180, and keeps roughly $615,820. Missouri's top rate for 2026 is 4.7 %, and a prize reaches the top bracket within its first few thousand dollars, so the rate applies to nearly the whole amount; the 2026 bracket thresholds themselves could not be read on the Department of Revenue site, which is why this page works with the top rate. State law requires the lottery to withhold 4 % from any prize or periodic payment of $600 or more, so $40,000 is held here and the rest is due with the Missouri return. Prizes adding up to less than $600 in a year escape both Missouri income tax and city earnings taxes. Kansas and Illinois residents who buy in Kansas City or St. Louis owe Missouri as nonresidents.
Missouri withholding against the tax due
Owed with the return on top of withholding
$104,180
| Federal tax due | $337,180 |
| Federal withholding | $240,000 |
| State and city tax due | $47,000 |
| State withholding | $40,000 |
One rate does almost all the work
Missouri still has a graduated schedule, but its brackets are short. The statute sets the structure (RSMo 143.011) and the Department of Revenue indexes the thresholds each year; the top rate for 2026 is 4.7 %, the rate the department also applies to lump-sum payments in its 2026 withholding materials (Missouri 2026 withholding formula). Missouri's 2026 bracket thresholds could not be read on the Department of Revenue site, whose pages block automated reading. On a lottery prize that matters little: the top rate applies to the whole prize, which reaches the top bracket at a few thousand dollars. The estimates here therefore apply 4.7 % to income above the standard deduction, which slightly overstates the tax on the first few thousand dollars of a small win.
Missouri's standard deduction mirrors the federal one, $16,100 for a single filer and $32,200 for a couple filing jointly in 2026. For a winner with a salary, the deduction is already used by the wages, so the prize is taxed from its first dollar.
Withholding by prize size
Section 313.321 of the Missouri statutes sets two thresholds at once (RSMo 313.321). Prizes that add up to less than $600 in a tax year are free of state income tax and of any local earnings tax. From $600 the state withholds 4 % of each prize or periodic payment. The federal rule is different: 24 % only above $5,000. The table runs four prize sizes for a single Missourian with $60,000 of wages.
| Prize | Missouri withheld | Missouri tax | Federal withheld | Federal tax | Balance at filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $200 | $235 | $0 | $600 | $635 |
| $50,000 | $2,000 | $2,350 | $12,000 | $10,350 | -$1,300 |
| $250,000 | $10,000 | $11,750 | $60,000 | $66,614 | $8,364 |
| $1,000,000 | $40,000 | $47,000 | $240,000 | $337,180 | $104,180 |
The Missouri gap stays modest, 4.7 % owed against 4 % withheld. The federal gap is the one that grows with the prize, because the federal brackets climb to 37 %. Lottery tax withholding explains why the two never match.
Annuity payments are withheld one by one
The statute speaks of a prize "or periodic payment", so a jackpot winner who keeps the annuity sees 4 % taken from each of the 30 yearly payments. On the $635 million Powerball jackpot of October 21, 2026, the first payment is $9,557,661 and its Missouri tax $449,210; the last is $39,340,630, taxed $1,849,010. Over the 30 years Missouri collects $29,845,000 at the 2026 rules. Missouri also taxes a nonresident on Missouri Lottery winnings reported to the IRS (RSMo 143.181), which suggests that payments keep their Missouri source after a winner moves away, but no official text read for this site says so for installments specifically.
Kansas City and St. Louis: two borders, four cases
Both big metro areas straddle a state line. Kansas residents of Johnson and Wyandotte counties shop on the Missouri side, and Illinois residents of the Metro East cross the Mississippi into St. Louis. Missouri taxes them as nonresidents when the winnings are reportable to the IRS. Their home states tax the prize too and credit the Missouri tax. Missourians who buy in Kansas or Illinois are in the mirror position, and Missouri gives a credit for income tax paid to another state, limited to the Missouri tax on the share of income from that state (RSMo 143.081).
| Winner lives in, ticket from | Missouri | Other state | Federal | Kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas, Missouri | $46,286 | $9,514 | $337,180 | $607,020 |
| Illinois, Missouri | $46,286 | $3,214 | $337,180 | $613,320 |
| Missouri, Kansas | $714 | $55,046 | $337,180 | $607,060 |
| Missouri, Illinois | $714 | $49,363 | $337,180 | $612,742 |
Kansas City and St. Louis also levy earnings taxes on residents. The statute exempts lottery prizes under $600 from local earnings tax, but whether the city earnings taxes reach a larger prize was not verified in an official source for this page, so no city tax is added. The credit for taxes paid to another state and nonresident lottery tax go further into the border cases.
Losses and the itemized deduction
Missouri's itemized deduction follows the federal one with a few modifications (RSMo 143.141), so a winner who itemizes federally and deducts gambling losses carries them to the Missouri return. From 2026 the federal deduction counts losses at 90 % of their amount; no separate Missouri rule on that limit was found. All amounts here are estimates on the 2026 rules, not tax advice. Lottery play costs money; the National Problem Gambling Helpline is free at 1-800-MY-RESET (NCPG).