The equilibrium structures and harmonic vibrational frequencies of the anion and the first triplet state of cyclooctatetraene were computed using the B3LYP, PBE0, and M06-2X approaches of the density functional theory associated with the aug-cc-pVTZ basis set. The first excited singlet state of cyclooctatetraene was calculated using the complete active space self-consistent field method. The photoelectron spectra of cyclooctatetraene anion were simulated for both the triplet and the excited singlet states via computing Franck–Condon factors. The adiabatic electron affinity was computed by extrapolation to the complete basis set limit from the energies calculated using CCSD­(T)/aug-cc-pVXZ (X = D, T, Q). The simulated photoelectron spectrum and the calculated adiabatic electron affinity for the triplet state are in consistence with the experiment. The first excited singlet state, which plays a key role in the photochemistry of cyclooctatetraene, is predicted to possess vibrational structures in its photoelectron spectrum pertinent for experimental identification.