COLORADO LOTTERY TAX · TAX YEAR 2026

Colorado lottery tax calculator

Colorado taxes lottery winnings as income, at its flat 4.4% rate. On a $1,000,000 prize with $75,000 of wages, a single filer owes $44,664 of Colorado tax and $340,080 of federal income tax, $384,745 in all, and keeps $615,255.

Tax on your prize

Total tax on the prize: $384,744.65
Federal income tax: $340,080.25
Colorado tax: $44,664.40
After-tax prize: $615,255.35
Effective rate: 38.47%

Federal withholding at 24%: $240,000.00
Colorado withholding at 4% (2026): $40,000.00
Still owed at tax time: $104,744.65

Colorado tax by size of prize

What a single filer with $75,000 of wages owes on a prize, and what Colorado withholds from it.

Colorado tax on a lottery prize — tax year 2026
Prize	Federal tax	State tax	State withholding
$10,000	$2,200	$440	$400
$100,000	$23,064	$4,400	$4,000
$1 million	$340,080	$44,664	$40,000
$10 million	$3,670,080	$440,664	$400,000

Colorado lottery tax questions

Does Colorado tax lottery winnings?

Yes. Colorado taxes lottery winnings as income, at its flat 4.4% rate.

How much tax is due on a $1,000,000 lottery prize in Colorado?

A single filer with $75,000 of wages owes $340,080 of federal income tax and $44,664 of Colorado tax on a $1,000,000 prize, $384,745 in all, and keeps $615,255. On a $100,000 prize, Colorado tax is $4,400 and federal tax $23,064.

How much is withheld from a Colorado lottery prize?

Colorado withholds 4% for state tax and 24% for federal tax from a prize over $5,000. On a $1,000,000 prize, $280,000 is withheld against $384,745 of tax, leaving $104,745 to pay at tax time.

Why does Colorado withhold less than its income tax rate?

Colorado withholds 4% of a prize over $5,000, below its 4.4% income tax rate. On a $1,000,000 prize, $40,000 is withheld against $44,664 of Colorado tax, leaving $4,664 to pay at tax time.

What the calculator leaves out

Federal tax stacks the prize on wages after the 2026 standard deduction and taxes it at the ordinary brackets. Withholding treats the whole prize as winnings, though the IRS tests winnings minus the wager. The calculator takes the cash received this year: a lump sum is taxed in full the year it is paid, and annuity payments are taxed each year as they are received. Gambling losses are left out; only filers who itemize can deduct them, and from 2026 only up to 90% of losses. Tax another state may charge on a ticket bought there is left out.

Sources

Read the full assumptions and sources.