The Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit is a property tax reduction, funded by state lottery proceeds, that appears as a line item on your annual property tax bill if you owned and lived in your Wisconsin home as your primary residence on January 1 of that tax year. For 2025–26, the credit is calculated on a base of $27,000, and the estimated average credit is about $190 per property.1State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. DOR 2025-26 Lottery and First Dollar Credit You claim it by filing form LC-100 with your county treasurer; once approved, it renews automatically.
It is not an income tax credit, and nothing about it goes on your state return. Look for it on the property tax bill itself.
Who Qualifies
Two conditions have to be true on January 1 of the year the taxes are levied: you are a Wisconsin resident, and you own a dwelling that you use as your primary residence on that date.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program The January 1 date is the only date that matters. Close on a new home on January 2 and you wait a full year for the credit.
Primary residence means the home where you actually live most of the year, and you can only claim one. Rental property, business property, vacant land, and detached garages do not qualify.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program If a dispute arises about which home is your primary one, the usual indicators are your Wisconsin driver’s license address, voter registration, and where you file your state income tax return.
Temporary absences of six months or less, such as a hospital stay or a vacation, do not break your primary-residence status. The home you plan to return to still counts.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program
Duplexes, Mobile Homes, and Married Couples
If you own a duplex and live in one unit, you qualify for the credit on your unit. Each owner-occupied dwelling on a parcel can support a separate claim, up to the number of dwellings on the property.3Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Administrative Code Tax 20.05(6) Two co-owners who each occupy one side of a duplex can each file their own application.
Manufactured and mobile homes qualify too, even if you lease the land underneath. You still have to own the home and use it as your primary residence on January 1. When you qualify, your municipal clerk calculates the credit and deducts one-twelfth of it from your monthly municipal permit fee rather than applying it to a property tax bill.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program
Married couples normally share one primary residence, so one credit applies. In rare cases where spouses each own a separate property, live apart, and genuinely use their own homes as primary residences (neither being a vacation home), each spouse may claim the credit on their own home.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program
How Much the Credit Is Worth
The credit is not a flat amount. It equals your local school district’s gross tax rate multiplied by either the statewide credit base or your home’s fair market value, whichever is lower. For 2025–26 the credit base is $27,000.1State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. DOR 2025-26 Lottery and First Dollar Credit If your home is worth more than $27,000, the calculation uses $27,000. If it is worth less, the calculation uses the actual value. Only elementary and secondary school taxes feed the formula; technical college levies are excluded.4Wisconsin State Legislature. State Property Tax Credits – School Levy, First Dollar, and Lottery and Gaming Credits
Because school tax rates differ across Wisconsin, two homeowners with identical home values in different districts receive different credit amounts. Statewide, the estimated average credit for 2025–26 is $190, and about $293 million will be distributed in total.5Wisconsin State Legislature. Estimate of Available Funds for the 2025(26) Lottery and Gaming Credit The base figure changes year to year with lottery revenue and the number of eligible properties.
How the Credit Shows Up on Your Bill
The credit appears as its own line on your property tax bill, below the total tax and the First Dollar Credit. If a number is on that line, you are already receiving it and nothing more is needed. The credit stays on the property automatically each year as long as you remain eligible.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program
If you pay in installments, the credit is applied to your first installment or your full payment. If you have already paid in full before the credit is processed, your treasurer issues a refund.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program
How to Apply
If the credit already appears on your bill, do nothing. It renews on its own. New homeowners, and anyone whose bill does not show the credit, need to file.
The form is the LC-100. The Department of Revenue recommends its online Lottery and Gaming Credit Application Portal, which walks you through the correct form and submits it electronically.6Department of Revenue. Lottery and Gaming Credit Forms On paper, the completed LC-100 goes to your county treasurer. Milwaukee County is the exception: send it to your municipal treasurer instead.7Wisconsin Department of Revenue. 2026 LC-100 Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Application
Deadlines
To get the credit on your current year’s tax bill, file with your local treasurer by January 31 following the issuance of that bill.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program An approved application reduces the bill, or triggers a refund if you have already paid. The credit is then added to future tax rolls automatically.8Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 79.10
Miss January 31 and you still have one more chance: file a late claim directly with the Department of Revenue by October 1 of that year.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program A successful late claim results in a refund from the state and puts the credit on future bills. Miss October 1 and the credit for that tax year is gone.
Buying or Selling a Home
When a qualifying property is sold after January 1, the credit stays with the property for that tax year. It does not follow the seller to a new home. At closing, the credit amount should be worked into the proration of property taxes between buyer and seller.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program Closing agents handle this routinely, but confirm it on your settlement statement.
If you buy a home and plan to live in it, the previous owner’s credit carries through the current tax year. File your own LC-100 so the credit continues under your name next year. If the new owner will not live in the home, the credit has to be removed.
New construction has a hard rule: the home must be completed and occupied on January 1 to qualify for that year’s credit.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program A house still under construction or sitting vacant on January 1 does not qualify, even if you move in the next day.
Removing the Credit When You No Longer Qualify
If the property stops being your primary residence for any reason, you have to remove the credit yourself. That includes moving out, converting it to a rental, selling to someone who will not live there, or the death of the owner. File the Lottery and Gaming Credit Removal Request (Form LC-400) with your county treasurer within 30 days of the property becoming ineligible.2State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Wisconsin Lottery and Gaming Credit Program The DOR portal accepts removal requests electronically as well.6Department of Revenue. Lottery and Gaming Credit Forms
This part catches people. Because the credit renews on its own, failing to notify the treasurer means you keep receiving a credit you are not entitled to, and you can be required to repay it. The 30-day window is short, so treat removal like any other closing task and do it right away.
Lottery Credit vs. First Dollar Credit
A second line called the First Dollar Credit may also appear on your bill. These are separate programs, and qualifying homeowners receive both. The First Dollar Credit applies to any taxable parcel with improvements on it, whether or not the owner lives there. The Lottery and Gaming Credit is limited to your primary residence.9Wisconsin State Legislature. State Property Tax Credits – School Levy, First Dollar, and Lottery and Gaming Credits A rental property with a building on it gets the First Dollar Credit but not the Lottery and Gaming Credit. Your primary residence gets both.