Lottery prize tax calculator
Type the prize amount to see how much tax is cut before you are paid and how much you keep. Rules for prizes received from 1 April 2026 (Income-tax Act, 2025).
Estimate for a resident of India, assuming the prize is your only income this tax year and the default (new) tax regime. Charges deducted by the lottery office are not included. Not tax advice: for a big prize, ask a tax professional.
How lottery prizes are taxed
Lottery winnings are taxed at a flat 30% (Income-tax Act, 2025, section 194). The basic exemption limit does not apply, and no expense, such as the ticket price, can be subtracted (section 94(4)).
If a single prize is more than ₹10,000, the payer cuts 30% of the whole prize before paying you (section 393(3), Table item 1). For residents of India exactly 30% is cut at this stage; cess and surcharge are not added.
What you pay when you file your return
A 4% Health and Education Cess is added to the 30%, so most winners pay 31.2% in total.
If your total income is above ₹50 lakh, a surcharge is added: 10% above ₹50 lakh, 15% above ₹1 crore and 25% above ₹2 crore in the new tax regime (in the old regime, 37% above ₹5 crore). Marginal relief limits the surcharge just above each limit.
Only 30% is cut when you are paid, so winners of big prizes usually still owe the cess and surcharge. Pay it as advance tax or self-assessment tax and show the prize in your return.
Example: ₹1 crore prize
30% cut before payment: ₹30,00,000, so ₹70,00,000 is paid to you. When you file: 10% surcharge ₹3,00,000 and 4% cess ₹1,32,000. Total tax ₹34,32,000; you keep ₹65,68,000.
Official sources
Checked against these documents on 20.10.2026.