Gambling winnings tax in Idaho

Idaho allows gambling losses only as an itemized deduction on the state return, whether or not you itemize federally. Take its standard deduction and it taxes your gross winnings. Whether only 90 percent of your losses count from 2026 is not settled.

Checked against Idaho’s own sources on 2026-09-11.

In short

Idaho does not withhold on winnings from an out-of-state casino or an online sportsbook. If you live in Idaho, expect a gap that you must cover with estimated payments.
If you itemize, Idaho takes state and local income or general sales tax out of your federal itemized deductions.4
Idaho lottery prizes under $600 each are subtracted from your Idaho income. Prizes from other states’ lotteries are not.7

How Idaho treats gambling losses

Idaho does not tie the deduction to your federal itemizing choice. You can itemize on the Idaho return even if you take the federal standard deduction, but the losses count only if you do, in place of Idaho's standard deduction.

The two examples below are the same numbers the calculator uses, worked at Idaho rates.

Two examples for tax year 2026, at Idaho's 2025 rates

A single filer with $60,000 of other income who takes the standard deduction on everything except gambling losses.

A losing year

You win $50,000 and lose $52,000, so you finish down $2,000.

Federal: $3,596
Idaho: $1,023
Total: $4,619

You finished the year down and still owe tax.

Federally you itemize, so your losses offset your winnings, but the 2026 rule caps that deduction at 90 percent and leaves $3,200 taxable. Idaho lets you deduct gambling losses as an itemized deduction on the state return, whether or not you itemize federally. Your Idaho income, after the larger of the standard deduction and your itemized deductions, goes from $43,900 without the win to $63,200 with it. The extra $19,300 is taxed at 5.3 percent, which comes to $1,023.

A winning year

You win $50,000 and lose $10,000, so you finish up $40,000.

Federal: $10,350
Idaho: $2,650
Total: $13,000

Federally you take the $16,100 standard deduction, which is worth more than itemizing, so your gambling losses do not reduce your federal tax at all. Idaho lets you deduct gambling losses as an itemized deduction on the state return, whether or not you itemize federally. Your Idaho income, after the larger of the standard deduction and your itemized deductions, goes from $43,900 without the win to $93,900 with it. The extra $50,000 is taxed at 5.3 percent, which comes to $2,650.

Idaho income tax rates, 2025

5, 6

This is the 2025 table. Idaho has not published a 2026 one. We last looked for a 2026 one on 2026-10-03.

Single filer thresholds. Married filing jointly and head of household use different bands. Married filing separately uses the single bands.

Taxable income	Rate
$0 to $4,811	0 percent
$4,811 and above	5.3 percent

The calculator also applies what this table leaves out: the federal overall limit on itemized deductions at the top federal bracket, taken before the table.

Withholding on winnings

Idaho withholds 5.3 percent. The payout that triggers it depends on the wager, and the lowest trigger is $5,000. The rules in the state's sources:

the state lottery: above $5,000, measured after the stake comes off (Idaho withholds only when the Internal Revenue Code makes the state lottery withhold).
other lotteries, sweepstakes and wagering pools, pari-mutuel wagering, slot machines, keno and bingo, sports wagering, poker tournaments and other wagers: nothing is withheld. The withholding law covers only the Idaho state lottery.

Withholding is a credit against the bill, not the bill itself. It does not settle what you owe.

The federal 90 percent loss limit in Idaho

3, 4, 8, 11

From tax year 2026 the federal deduction for gambling losses is cut to 90 percent of what you lost, and never more than what you won. Public Law 119-21 did it, at section 70114(a), by rewriting 26 U.S.C. 165(d).

Idaho has not said whether the federal 90 percent limit applies. Its own law measures the state deduction by the federal figure, so the limit can arrive without Idaho doing anything. Idaho follows the federal code as it stood on 2026-01-01.

Our estimate assumes the limit applies, which gives the higher tax. The calculator also shows the tax if the limit does not apply. We would rather tell you the number could be lower than let you plan around one that turns out to be too low.

If you do not live in Idaho

A nonresident must file once Idaho source gross income exceeds $2,500. Idaho lottery winnings above $600 are Idaho source other income. A resident is taxed on all income wherever earned, with a credit for tax paid to another state.

The calculator works the bill for somebody who lives in Idaho. It does not apportion income between states, so a nonresident return is not what the figure above describes.

More about Idaho

Withholding

Idaho does not withhold on winnings from an out-of-state casino or an online sportsbook. If you live in Idaho, expect a gap that you must cover with estimated payments.

The rate

Idaho’s rate is 5.3 percent for both 2025 and 2026.5, 6

If you itemize

Idaho takes state and local income or general sales tax out of your federal itemized deductions.4

Idaho makes you itemize only in two cases. You file married filing separately and your spouse itemizes, or you are a nonresident alien for part of the year. Your federal choice does not make you itemize for Idaho.6

Idaho lottery prizes

Idaho lottery prizes under $600 each are subtracted from your Idaho income. Prizes from other states’ lotteries are not.7

About this estimate

The calculator does not take state and local income or general sales tax out of your itemized deductions, because it does not ask for them.4

Sources

Every figure above traces to a primary source: a statute, an administrative code, a state agency page, or official form instructions.

1. 2025 Idaho Form 40 instructions, line 18: add lines 13a and 13b from federal Form 1040, the federal Schedule 1-A deductions. Its only own amount at 65 or older, the retirement benefits deduction on Form 39R, is for certain pensions (checked 2026-10-10)
2. 2025 Form 40 instructions, line 16, the federal standard deduction for the filing status (checked 2026-09-25)
3. Idaho Code 63-3011B and 63-3011C, taxable income means federal taxable income, modified by Idaho adjustments (checked 2026-09-21)
4. Idaho Code 63-3022(j), the standard deduction or the itemized deductions as defined in IRC 63, less state income and sales taxes, at the option of the taxpayer (checked 2026-10-01)
5. Idaho Code 63-3024, imposition of tax at 5.3 percent above the threshold (checked 2026-09-11)
6. Form 40 instructions (2025), rate, indexed thresholds and itemized deductions (checked 2026-09-15)
7. 2025 Form 40 instructions, subtraction for Idaho lottery prizes under $600 (checked 2026-10-06)
8. Idaho Code 63-3004, Internal Revenue Code as in effect January 1, 2026 (checked 2026-09-11)
9. Idaho Code 63-3035A, withholding on state lottery prizes (checked 2026-09-11)
10. IDAPA 35.01.01.121.02: "If itemized deductions are limited pursuant to Section 68, Internal Revenue Code", the state and local tax added back is scaled by the share allowed. 2025 Form 40 line 13: "Federal limits apply" (checked 2026-10-01)

The federal rule, for the parts of this page that rest on it

11. Public Law 119-21 section 70114(a), which rewrote 26 U.S.C. 165(d) on wagering losses from tax year 2026 and sets out its text (checked 2026-10-18)

We could not confirm these from an official source: whether any city or county tax applies.