Tax and claiming
Whether you keep your prize depends entirely on where the ticket was bought. The complete sourced reference, with the rates verified for 2026.
The same jackpot pays wildly different amounts depending on which side of a border the ticket was sold. Some countries take nothing; the Netherlands takes 37.8% above a small threshold. Here is the full picture.
In these jurisdictions the advertised prize is what you receive:
| Country | Position |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Entirely tax-free at receipt — HMRC does not treat betting or lottery wins as taxable income |
| Australia | Windfall gains, not taxable income; prizes paid in full |
| Canada | Windfalls; the CRA lists lottery prizes among amounts that are not taxed |
| New Zealand | Completely tax-free; nothing withheld, nothing declared |
| Ireland | Prizes not subject to income tax |
| Germany | Licensed German lottery prizes are not taxable income |
| France | FDJ winnings free of income tax |
| Austria | Prizes, including EuroMillions wins, paid tax-free |
| South Africa | Exempt from income tax and CGT for casual players |
| Singapore | IRAS treats Toto/4D wins as windfalls, not income |
| Malaysia | Licensed-operator prizes are windfalls, paid in full |
| Hong Kong | No tax on player winnings; the Jockey Club pays betting duty |
| Japan | Takarakuji prizes exempt under the Lottery Ticket Act |
| Hungary | Licensed-operator winnings exempt from personal income tax |
| UAE | No personal income tax; prizes paid in full |
| Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark | Tax-free where the operator is licensed in the country or the EU/EEA — the operator bears the gambling tax instead |
The Nordic pattern is worth noting: the exemption is tied to the operator's licence, not to you. Winnings from operators outside the EEA are generally taxable.
| Country | Rate and threshold |
|---|---|
| United States | 24% federal withholding on large prizes; top marginal rate 37% at filing; most states add 0–10.9%. Non-resident aliens: 30% withholding |
| Netherlands | 37.8% from 1 January 2026 (was 34.2% in 2025) on prizes above €449 |
| India | Flat 30% under s.115BB plus 4% cess (effective 31.2%), surcharge up to 15% above ₹1 crore; 30% TDS above ₹10,000 |
| Israel | 35% above an indexed exemption (about ILS 33,000–34,000), with a partial band above it |
| Brazil | 30% withheld at source above a small exempt band; advertised jackpots are pre-tax |
| South Korea | 22% above KRW 50,000, rising to 33% above KRW 300 million |
| Romania | Tiered from 1 August 2025: 4% up to RON 10,000; 20% band; 40% above RON 66,750 |
| Argentina | 31% applied to 90% of the prize (effective 27.9%) above an indexed minimum |
| Spain | 20% special levy on the portion above €40,000 per prize |
| Portugal | 20% stamp duty above €5,000 |
| Italy | 20% on the portion above €500 |
| Türkiye | 20% above an indexed exemption (TRY 66,935 for 2026) |
| Philippines | 20% final tax on the whole prize above ₱10,000 |
| Taiwan | 20% final withholding above NT$5,000 |
| Colombia | 20% above 48 UVT (roughly COP 2.5 million in 2026) |
| Greece | Progressive: nil to €100; 15% to €500; 20% above €500 |
| Chile | Single 15% tax withheld; advertised prizes usually shown net |
| Czechia | 15% above CZK 50,000 per win (threshold cut from CZK 1 million in 2024) |
| Poland | Flat 10% above PLN 2,280 |
| Kenya | In flux — 15% historically, replaced by a 5% withdrawal excise in 2025, with a 20% winnings tax proposed for 2026 |
| Nigeria | From 1 January 2026: 5% residents, 15% non-residents, under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 |
| Switzerland | Tax-free up to CHF 1 million per win; 35% anticipatory tax on the excess |
| Mexico | 1% federal ISR (up to 21% where the state levies above 6%), plus state prize taxes to about 6% |
| Thailand | Effectively income-tax-free, but 0.5% stamp duty on winnings (1% for charitable draws) |
Each country's entry, with its source, also appears on that country's hub page — for example lotteries in Australia — and on each game's tax page, such as Powerball tax.
1. "Tax-free" almost always means tax-free at receipt. The prize is untaxed; what it earns afterwards is not. UK winners pay tax on interest, dividends and gains in the ordinary way, and large gifts from winnings can fall within inheritance tax if the giver dies within seven years. Ireland's CGT is currently 33% on subsequent gains, and gifts above the thresholds can trigger Capital Acquisitions Tax for the recipient. Japan's gift tax applies above the annual JPY 1.1 million allowance if you share a prize.
2. Withholding is often final. In Brazil, Taiwan, the Philippines, Chile and Colombia the tax deducted at payout settles the liability — there is nothing further to declare. In the US it does not: the 24% withheld is an instalment, and the balance to the 37% top rate falls due when you file. Winners who spend as though the withheld amount was the whole tax bill get an unpleasant surprise.
3. Thresholds move, and some have moved recently. Czechia cut its exemption from CZK 1 million to CZK 50,000 in 2024. The Netherlands raised its rate twice in two years. Romania re-tiered in August 2025. Nigeria introduced withholding for 2026. Anything you read that is more than a year old should be treated as a starting point, not an answer.
If you win a foreign lottery, two jurisdictions may have a claim: the one where the ticket was sold, and the one where you are resident. See winning a foreign lottery for how withholding and double-taxation relief interact.
Every row above is drawn from the sourced country records on this site; each country page lists the specific authority used. This is general information, not tax advice — rules change, personal circumstances vary, and on a life-changing sum the cost of a local professional is trivial against the amount at stake. Model the take-home with the after-tax prize calculator and read the first 72 hours before claiming anything substantial.
Last verified: 2026-08-29