Gambling winnings tax in Louisiana

Louisiana taxes your gross gambling winnings and allows no deduction for losses, so a losing year can still produce a state tax bill.

Checked against Louisiana’s own sources on 2026-10-05.

In short

Louisiana taxes income at a flat 3 percent rate for tax years that begin on or after January 1, 2025.1, 7
If you win $2,000 or more on a slot machine, enough for the casino to report it on a Form W-2G, Louisiana withholds 3 percent.5, 1, 6

How Louisiana treats gambling losses

2, 3

Louisiana does not let a casual gambler offset winnings with losses at all, so how you file federally makes no difference to the state figure.

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

Two examples, worked at 2026 Louisiana 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
Louisiana: $1,500
Total: $5,096

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. Louisiana starts from your federal income and allows no deduction for gambling losses, so the full $50,000 is taxed at 3 percent, which comes to $1,500.

A winning year

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

Federal: $10,350
Louisiana: $1,500
Total: $11,850

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. Louisiana starts from your federal income and allows no deduction for gambling losses, so the full $50,000 is taxed at 3 percent, which comes to $1,500.

Louisiana income tax rates, 2026

1, 4

Taxable income	Rate
$0 and above	3 percent

The calculator also applies what this table leaves out: a standard deduction, taken before the table.

Withholding on winnings

5, 6

Louisiana withholds 3 percent. The payout that triggers it depends on the wager, and the lowest trigger is $2,000. The rules in the state's sources:

slot machines, keno and bingo: $2,000 or more (slot machines only, where the casino must issue a Form W-2G. Keno and bingo are not withheld).
sports wagering and other wagers: above $5,000, and only where the payout is at least 300 times the stake, measured after the stake comes off (only where federal withholding applies. Sports wagering includes fantasy contests).

These sources give no rule for other kinds of bet, so do not assume tax was withheld on one.

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 Louisiana

2, 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).

Louisiana allows no loss deduction at all, so the federal limit changes your federal bill and not your Louisiana bill.

Louisiana follows the federal code as it changes. The paragraph above says what this means for the federal 90 percent limit.

If you do not live in Louisiana

3, 5

Withholding applies to residents and nonresidents alike. A nonresident files Form IT-540B to report the winnings and claim any refund.

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

More about Louisiana

The flat rate

Louisiana has a flat 3 percent rate for tax years that begin on or after January 1, 2025, under Act 11 of the 2024 Third Extraordinary Session.1, 7

No further rate cut is scheduled.

Withholding

For slot machine winnings, Louisiana withholds 3 percent on any win the casino must report on a Form W-2G, which is $2,000 or more. Table games, sports wagering and fantasy contests use the federal trigger, which is narrower.5, 1, 6

Deductions

Louisiana starts from federal adjusted gross income. Its only itemized deduction is excess medical expenses. The standard deduction was $12,500 single and $25,000 joint, head of household or surviving spouse for 2025, and it changes each year with an index.2, 8, 7

For 2026 the standard deduction is $12,875 single and $25,750 joint. These figures come from an estimated tax form. They are the department’s estimate, not a final table.4

About this estimate

The estimate takes off the 2026 standard deduction of $12,875 single or married filing separately, or $25,750 joint or head of household. The department calls it an estimate, and the final amount may be slightly lower, so for a win that crosses it the figure can be a little low.

Sources

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

1. R.S. 47:32, rates of tax, flat 3 percent (checked 2026-09-11)
2. R.S. 47:293, excess federal itemized personal deductions limited to medical care (checked 2026-09-11)
3. Form IT-540 instructions (2025), lines 9A to 9D, and Form IT-540B for nonresidents (checked 2026-10-11)
4. Form IT-540ES instructions (2026), 3 percent rate and the estimated standard deduction for 2026 (checked 2026-10-11)
5. R.S. 47:164(D)(3), withholding on gaming, sports wagering and fantasy contest winnings (checked 2026-10-05)
6. IRS Instructions for Forms W-2G and 5754 (Rev. January 2026), $2,000 for 2026 payments (checked 2026-10-05)
7. LDR Revenue Information Bulletin 25-012, Act 11 flat 3 percent rate from tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025, and the repeal of the additional exemptions for dependents, blind persons and persons over 65 (checked 2026-10-06)
8. R.S. 47:294, standard deduction of $12,500, twice that on a joint return, indexed from 2026 (checked 2026-10-11)
9. Form R-1306 (1/26), withholding tables, the 2026 standard deduction of $12,875 and $25,750 (checked 2026-10-11)
10. LDR Revenue Information Bulletin 26-005, the withholding tables use a standard deduction set from CPI-U data available on December 1, 2025 (checked 2026-10-11)

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.