Winners of the second and third prizes, along with the grand prize in the Christmas Lottery draw, will need to allocate 20 percent of the prize amount to a special tax on public property, with the first 40,000 euros exempt from this tax. This exemption remains a key bracket in determining how much is taxable and how much stays with the winner.
All prizes administered by the State Lottery and Betting Society, known as Selae, follow the guidance published by the Tax Office. According to the Tax Office, any prize exceeding 40,000 euros, including the special Christmas raffle held this Friday, is subject to the special tax charged on lottery winnings. The tax is applied through withholding. In practice, Selae deducts the applicable tax portion from the prize at the moment of payment, so winners do not have to manage the tax payment separately later on, regardless of whether the amount is a tenth, a fraction, or a lottery coupon.
Under current regulations, prizes below 40,000 euros are exempt from the special lottery tax. For prizes that exceed this threshold, the portion above 40,000 euros is taxed at 20 percent, in addition to determining the final amount received by the winner.
For example, if the top prize reaches 400,000 euros, the first 40,000 euros are exempt, while the remaining 360,000 euros are taxed. From this, 72,000 euros go to the Treasury, and 328,000 euros remain with the winner. Likewise, an 85,000-euro prize within a 125,000-euro total would be taxed on the portion above 40,000, resulting in a 17,000-euro tax retained by the Treasury and 108,000 euros going to the winner.
Similarly, the third prize of 50,000 euros is subject to a 2,000-euro tax, leaving the winner with 48,000 euros. Other prizes do not reach the 40,000-euro exemption threshold and are not taxed under this special regime.
The Tax Office notes that when prizes are shared among friends or family, the 40,000-euro tax-free portion must be divided proportionally according to each participant’s stake. The designated person responsible for handling the distribution must appear as the sole beneficiary or collection agent and should be prepared to demonstrate, to the Tax Office, that the distribution was completed and identify all winning participants.
Since 2013, prizes from state lotteries, autonomous communities, the National Spanish Organization for the Blind, the Spanish Red Cross, and similar European organizations that exceed a specified threshold have been taxed at 20 percent. That threshold has changed over time: it stood at 2,500 euros until 2017, rose to 10,000 euros in 2018, 20,000 euros in 2019, and reached 40,000 euros from 2020 onward. In 2022, the special lottery tax brought in 364 million euros in revenue.
Christmas Lottery 2023
On December 22, the results will be published, allowing participants to verify whether their tenth ticket won and to view the complete results of the 2023 Christmas Lottery, as noted by the tax authorities and lottery organizers.