Wisconsin gambling tax calculator

Wisconsin allows no deduction for losses, so a losing year can still produce a state tax bill. If you elect the session method and keep records, losses net against wins within each session only.

Your numbers

For each winning bet, what it paid out less what you staked. Add these up for the year, before taking off any losses.

What you staked on your losing bets for the year. More than your winnings is normal.

Get a more accurate numberFiling status, other income, deductions and withholding
Filing status

Wages and everything else, before deductions. Leave out Social Security.

Mortgage interest, charitable gifts, and state and local tax up to its federal cap. Enter these even if you usually take the standard deduction. Your losses may make itemizing worth it, and the calculator compares the two for you.

The year’s total from Form SSA-1099, box 5, for both spouses on a joint return. A win can make more of it taxable. Leave blank if you have none.

Your age (optional)

At the end of 2026. Federal and some state deductions are larger at 65 or older.

Compare reporting methodsEvery wager, or netted by session

These three numbers require going through every bet of the year by hand and grouping them into days. We are building a paid tool to do this for you.

Add up the net gain on every day that finished up.

Add up the net loss on every day that finished down, as a positive number.

The calculation runs on your device, so nothing is sent to work out your number. If you accepted cookies, what you enter is also sent to our analytics.

Your estimate

Enter your state, winnings, and losses to see an estimate.

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

How Wisconsin treats gambling losses

Wisconsin allows no deduction for gambling losses. If you use the session method on your federal return and keep records, you must use it on the Wisconsin return too, and each session nets its own losses against its own wins. A losing session offsets nothing else.

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

Two examples, worked at 2026 Wisconsin 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
Wisconsin
$2,952
Total
$6,548

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. Wisconsin starts from your federal income and allows no deduction for gambling losses, so the full $50,000 is taxed at 5.3 percent, plus $302 because the win shrinks your standard deduction, which comes to $2,952.

A winning year

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

Federal
$10,350
Wisconsin
$2,952
Total
$13,302

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. Wisconsin starts from your federal income and allows no deduction for gambling losses, so the full $50,000 is taxed at 5.3 percent, plus $302 because the win shrinks your standard deduction, which comes to $2,952.

Full Wisconsin rules, rates and sources

The rules behind these numbers