Colorado Lottery Tax
Colorado Lottery coloradolottery.com
- Colorado tax4.4%#26 highest of 38 states
- Federal withholding24%on prizes of $5,000 or more
- Top federal rate37%owed on a big prize at tax time
- IRS form W-2G$2,000+prizes the lottery reports
Colorado counts lottery prizes as income and taxes them at 4.4%. 4% is withheld at claim. The IRS taxes every prize as income: the lottery withholds 24% from prizes of $5,000 or more, and a big prize puts you in the top bracket (37%), so the rest is due when you file.
What you keep in Colorado
| Prize | Federal (37%) | Colorado (4.4%) | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | −$370 | −$44 | $586 |
| $10,000 | −$3,700 | −$440 | $5,860 |
| $100,000 | −$37,000 | −$4,400 | $58,600 |
| $1,000,000 | −$370,000 | −$44,000 | $586,000 |
Estimate at the top federal rate. Smaller prizes are taxed at your own bracket, so you may owe less; city or county taxes are not included unless the note above says so.
If you win the jackpot in Colorado
$600 Million jackpot
- Cash value
- $246M
- Federal tax
- −$91M
- Colorado tax
- −$10.8M
- You keep
- $144M
$403 Million jackpot
- Cash value
- $162M
- Federal tax
- −$60M
- Colorado tax
- −$7.1M
- You keep
- $95M
Lottery tax by state
38 states tax lottery prizes, from 2.5% to 10.9%. 8 do not: California, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.
- Arizona 2.5%
- Arkansas 3.7%
- California 0%
- Connecticut 6.99%
- Delaware 6.6%
- District of Columbia 10.75%
- Florida 0%
- Georgia 4.99%
- Idaho 5.3%
- Illinois 4.95%
- Indiana 2.95%
- Iowa 3.8%
- Kansas 5.58%
- Kentucky 3.5%
- Louisiana 3%
- Maine 9.15%
- Maryland 6.5%
- Massachusetts 9%
- Michigan 4.25%
- Minnesota 9.85%
- Mississippi 4%
- Missouri 4.7%
- Montana 5.65%
- Nebraska 4.55%
- New Hampshire 0%
- New Jersey 10.75%
- New Mexico 5.9%
- New York 10.9%
- North Carolina 3.99%
- North Dakota 2.5%
- Ohio 2.75%
- Oklahoma 4.5%
- Oregon 9.9%
- Pennsylvania 3.07%
- Rhode Island 5.99%
- South Carolina 5.21%
- South Dakota 0%
- Tennessee 0%
- Texas 0%
- Vermont 8.75%
- Virginia 5.75%
- Washington 0%
- West Virginia 4.58%
- Wisconsin 7.65%
- Wyoming 0%
Rates as of October 13, 2026. tax.colorado.gov, IRS. Not tax advice: ask a tax professional before you claim a big prize.