How much tax you have to pay if you win the Christmas lottery in Spain

The arrival of the cold in Spain also reminds us that the Christmas Lottery Draw will be held soon. Every year Spaniards play the Christmas lottery, hoping to win one of its many prizes.

The Ministry of Finance is also aware of this draw, like all Spanish. For this reason, every year, the question arises about how much money we will have to pay if we win a Christmas Lottery prize.

The collection of the State in this section is important. The Christmas draw and the regular Lottery game represent an essential source of income throughout the year. In 2018, a new regulation was approved that changed the way the Treasury collects. With the entry into force in 2019, all those prizes of up to 20,000 euros are exempt from paying the tax for having been the winner in a draw.

Thus, the Christmas Lottery has a fixed tax of 20% on prizes that exceed 20,000 euros. To do this, you must calculate the final amount of the price, subtract that figure if the award is higher, and apply a reduction of 20% that the Treasury will take.
Thus, the Ministry will not collect tax on the first 20,000 euros awarded or the benefits reported for minor winnings in the Christmas draw. Even those who earn 21,000 euros will only pay 20% of the 1,000 that has been exceeded.

This discount of the amount is executed directly at the time of collecting the prize. Below we can see how much tax is taken from each Christmas Lottery prize.

The amount that the Treasury stays in the Lottery:

• El Gordo: endowed with an amount of 400,000 euros per tenth, the Treasury will keep 76,000 euros. The winner thus receives 324,000 euros.
• Second prize: this rewards with an amount of 125,000 euros for the tenth prize winner. The Ministry of Finance thus keeps 21,000 euros, which represents 104,000 euros for the winner.
• Third prize: this last prize with a tax is 50,000 euros per tenth. On this occasion, the Treasury is left with 6,000 euros, which is 44,000 euros for the winner