Illinois Lottery
Illinois Lottery Tax Calculator
Illinois takes its flat 4.95% from every Illinois Lottery payment of $1,000 or more — a trigger one-fifth the size of the federal one — and it does so for residents and nonresidents alike.
Verified · tax year 2026
Illinois prize — results
Take-home
95% kept of $2,500
Annuity · 30 payments
Year 1 — → year 30 —
| Cash received | $2,500 |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax | $0 |
| Tax to Illinois | $0 |
| Illinois tax | −$124 |
| Local income tax | $0 |
| You keep | $2,376 |
| Federal withholding (24%) | $0 |
|---|---|
| State withholding | −$124 |
| Check you receive | $2,376 |
| Still owed when you file | $0 |
Data: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 · state agencies, verified · what this leaves out
The $1,000 trigger in practice
Publication 130 from the Illinois Department of Revenue tells the Lottery to withhold Illinois income tax from each single payment of $1,000 or more. On a $2,500 instant-ticket prize that means $124 goes to Illinois at the counter, while no federal tax is withheld because the prize is under $5,000. The federal tax — $0 here for a filer with no other income — is still owed; it just is not taken in advance.
The rule looks at the payment, not the winner: a pool that shares one ticket is withheld on the whole payment even when each member’s share is under $1,000.
Rate and residency
Illinois’ 2026 withholding booklet confirms the 4.95% rate. Because the rate is flat, the withholding normally equals the final Illinois tax on a prize. Nonresidents who win in Illinois — commuters from Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri or Iowa — are withheld the same 4.95%, and whatever relief exists comes from their home state’s return; a visitor from a state with no income tax simply bears the Illinois tax.
Illinois at a glance
| State income tax on winnings | Up to 4.95% |
|---|---|
| Rate table used | 2026 |
| Lottery | Illinois Lottery |
| State withholding at claim | 4.95% at $1,000+ |
What Illinois winners should know
- Illinois starts withholding at $1,000 — far below the $5,000 federal trigger — so even a mid-size Illinois scratch-off prize arrives with 4.95% taken out.
- A group that shares one ticket is withheld on the whole payment even if each member’s share is under $1,000.
Illinois sources
- Booklet IL-700-T, Illinois Withholding Tax Tables (effective January 1, 2026) — Illinois Department of Revenue
- Publication 130, Who is Required to Withhold Illinois Income Tax — Illinois Department of Revenue
Agency: Illinois Department of Revenue. † read through a browser session (why). How the math works.