Gambling winnings tax in Massachusetts

Massachusetts lets you deduct gambling losses up to the amount you won and no further.

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

In short

Only some of your losses can be deducted in Massachusetts: losses at licensed sports wagering operators, gaming establishments and racing or simulcasting licensees. Losses at offshore books, out-of-state casinos and the Massachusetts lottery never qualify for this deduction.2
Your licensed-venue losses count only up to your winnings from licensed venues. So your losses can bring no deduction at all, even while your other gambling winnings are taxed.
If you win a lottery prize, you can take the cost of the winning ticket off that prize. You cannot subtract the losing tickets you bought during the year.10
For 2026 a 4 percent surtax starts at $1,107,750 of taxable income, up from $1,083,150 for 2025. The threshold is the same for every filing status, including a joint return.7

How Massachusetts treats gambling losses

Massachusetts does not tie the deduction to your federal itemizing choice, so a filer who takes the federal standard deduction gets the same offset as one who itemizes.

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

Two examples, worked at 2026 Massachusetts 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
Massachusetts: $0
Total: $3,596

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. Massachusetts lets you deduct losses up to the amount you won and no further, so none of it is taxed by Massachusetts.

A winning year

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

Federal: $10,350
Massachusetts: $2,000
Total: $12,350

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. Massachusetts lets you deduct losses up to the amount you won and no further, so $40,000 is taxed at 5 percent, which comes to $2,000.

Massachusetts income tax rates, 2026

7, 8

Taxable income	Rate
$0 to $1,107,750	5 percent
$1,107,750 and above	9 percent

The calculator also applies what this table leaves out: a personal exemption of $4,400 a person, or $6,800 for head of household, taken before the table and a rule that no tax is due at low income, with a cap on the tax just above it.

Withholding on winnings

5, 6

Massachusetts withholds 5 percent. The payout that triggers it depends on the wager, and the lowest trigger is $600. The rules in the state's sources:

the state lottery: $600 or more.
pari-mutuel wagering, 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 (outside the lottery, Massachusetts withholds only where federal withholding applies).
slot machines, keno and bingo: nothing is withheld at a casino or slots parlor licensed under chapter 23K, because federal regular withholding does not apply to these games. Keno sold by the state lottery is in the lottery line.

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 Massachusetts

6, 9, 13

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).

Massachusetts does not apply the federal 90 percent limit, so a loss deduction on your state return is not cut to 90 percent.

Massachusetts follows the federal code as it stood on 2024-01-01. The paragraph above says what this means for the federal 90 percent limit.

If you do not live in Massachusetts

A nonresident includes Massachusetts lottery winnings and winnings from a casino or slot parlor located in Massachusetts. A resident gets a credit for tax paid to another state.

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

More about Massachusetts

Which losses you can deduct

You can deduct only losses at a sports wagering operator licensed under chapter 23N, a gaming establishment licensed under chapter 23K, or a racing meeting or simulcasting licensee. Losses at offshore books, out-of-state casinos and the Massachusetts lottery never qualify for this deduction.2

Your licensed-venue losses are deductible only up to your winnings from licensed venues, taken together. For example, with $1,000 of licensed-venue losses and no licensed-venue winnings, you deduct nothing, even while $1,700 of other gambling winnings is taxed.

The rate and the 4 percent surtax

General Laws chapter 62 section 4 still prints a rate of 5.3 percent. An automatic reduction with a 5 percent floor brought the actual rate to 5.00 percent.12, 8

For 2026 the 4 percent surtax starts at $1,107,750 of taxable income, up from $1,083,150 for 2025. The threshold is the same for every filing status, including a joint return.7

If you win a lottery prize

If you win a lottery prize, you can take the cost of the winning ticket off the winnings from that same ticket, at any venue. Only the winning ticket counts. You cannot subtract losing tickets you bought during the year.10

If you are a professional gambler

If you are a professional gambler, the federal 90 percent limit does apply in Massachusetts, because Massachusetts follows IRC 62(a)(1) as currently in force.

About this estimate

If you are 65 or older, the calculator takes off Massachusetts’ extra $700 exemption for each person 65 or older. It does not change the No Tax Status line.

The calculator does not apply the licensed-venue limit. If some of your winnings or losses are not at licensed venues, your real Massachusetts tax can be higher than the estimate.

The calculator does not cover professional gamblers.

The calculator takes off your personal exemption: $4,400 single or married filing separately, $8,800 joint, or $6,800 head of household. It applies No Tax Status: no tax at Massachusetts AGI of $8,000 or less single, $16,400 joint or $14,400 head of household, and just above that line the Limited Income Credit, which holds the tax to 10 percent of the AGI over it. Your AGI here includes your whole win, because Massachusetts takes off gambling losses after AGI. It counts no dependents, who each raise the joint and head of household line by $1,000.

Sources

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

1. G.L. c.62 s.3(B)(b): an additional exemption of $700 for a taxpayer, and a spouse, 65 or older (checked 2026-10-12)
2. G.L. c.62 s.3(B)(a)(18), deduction for wagering losses at licensed venues, and s.3(B)(b), the personal exemptions (checked 2026-10-11)
3. G.L. c.62 s.5(a), No Tax Status and the limit on tax just above it (checked 2026-10-11)
4. G.L. c.62 s.2(i), Massachusetts adjusted gross income (checked 2026-10-11)
5. G.L. c.62B s.2, withholding on lottery, casino, sports wagering and pari-mutuel winnings (checked 2026-10-05)
6. TIR 15-14, withholding and reporting for certain gambling income (checked 2026-09-11)
7. DOR, Massachusetts 4 percent surtax on taxable income (checked 2026-09-11)
8. DOR, Massachusetts tax rates (checked 2026-09-11)
9. G.L. c.62 s.1, Internal Revenue Code as amended on January 1, 2024 (checked 2026-09-11)
10. DOR, Massachusetts tax information for gambling and the lottery (checked 2026-09-15)
11. 2025 Form 1 instructions, personal exemptions, No Tax Status and Limited Income Credit (checked 2026-10-11)
12. G.L. c.62 s.4(b), Part B rate printed as 5.3 percent, with an automatic reduction to a floor of 5 percent (checked 2026-10-06)

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

13. 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.