Gambling winnings tax in Texas

Texas has no state income tax, so it does not tax your gambling winnings as income.

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

How Texas treats gambling losses

Texas has no income tax, so there is no Texas return for your losses to change. They still matter on your federal return, and can matter on another state’s return if you won there.

The two examples below are the same numbers the calculator uses. With no Texas income tax, only the federal figure changes.

Two examples, worked at 2026 federal 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
Texas: $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. Texas has no income tax, so none of this is taxed at the state level.

A winning year

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

Federal: $10,350
Texas: $0
Total: $10,350

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. Texas has no income tax, so none of this is taxed at the state level.

Withholding on winnings

1, 2

Texas has no income tax, so no state income tax is withheld from your winnings. Any income tax withheld on a win here is federal.

If you do not live in Texas

Texas has no income tax, so it does not tax a visitor’s winnings as income either. If your home state taxes income, its own rules decide how it taxes the win, and there is no Texas income tax for it to credit.

More about Texas

Cash bingo prizes

If you win a cash bingo prize of more than $5, the bingo organization must collect a fee of 5 percent of the prize from you. It is a fee on the prize, not an income tax.3

Claiming a Texas Lottery prize

You must claim a Texas Lottery prize within 180 days of the draw date, or within 180 days of the official end of a scratch game. Some military personnel can get more time.4

Sources

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

1. Texas Constitution art. VIII secs. 24, 24-a and 24-b (Texas Legislative Council compiled text) (checked 2026-09-15)
2. Tex. H.J.R. 38, 86th Legislature, enrolled version, proposing art. VIII sec. 24-a and repealing sec. 24 (checked 2026-09-12)
3. Texas Occupations Code 2001.502, bingo prize fee (checked 2026-10-05)
4. Texas Lottery, claim your prize (checked 2026-10-05)

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