I'm considering going to the WSOP this year and will be selling shares.

Before I post the thread I was wondering if anyone knew how to deal with taxes on this kind of arrangement.

I'm Canadian, so I think that means that I may not need to pay the 30% tax on this, although I may need to recover the taxes after getting an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.

Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

30% will be with held on the spot in any casino. Which, after a process u will be able to get some % back, for a fee.

they hold the the appropriate amount of taxes at the time of the cash, no matter where you are from. you later will receive the majority of that money, if not all of it, when you claim it. not sure how to go about claiming it, but i'm sure someone at the cage knows more about this than myself.

im from usa and have never had a cashout where anything was "held". ive had state tax held a few times in tunica, st. louis & biloxi but never in vegas

I dealt with this last year (fortunately, I guess...)

Any cash where the NET is over $5,000 will have 30% taken off.

You can get some / all of it back depending on what gambling LOSSES you have to counter the win.

I was in the interesting (fortunate? unfortunate?) position of having made only one trip to vegas in 2010 where I was profitable - I just didn't have the losses to counter the wins to get my money back.

But if you're going, save ALL of your receipts, make a few sports book bets, etc, and give 'er a go.

All this said, your question is related to how you should sell your shares - the key is BE CLEAR UP FRONT! Make sure your agreement states that you know that 30% will be withheld, but you'll attempt to get the $ back and if you are able to do so you'll send your investors the appropriate chunk of the refund too.

OT

ps - mlaw - you don't have taxes held because you're from the USA. We're specifically talking about Canadians playing in Vegas here...

Thanks, this is really helpful. Has anyone had experience reclaiming the money that has been withheld? As in, do I need to go through an agency that does this kind of work (for a substantial fee) or is it possible to do it myself?

[QUOTE=Tweak24;25766913]they hold the the appropriate amount of taxes at the time of the cash, no matter where you are from.

thats the part i was responding to so the original poster wouldnt be confused

depending on the amount of $ that fee can be large or not so much.

Some places (just do a quick google search) charge $50 and a % of the money recoup'd. Others a straight % (obv higher than if they charge a fee as well).

-O.Tory - I thought that you had to be a "professional gambler" to be subject to the wins/losses aspect. Seems silly to me that I should have to keep all my $60-$100 tourney receipts from Canada that I don't cash in to be able to recoup money won in the USA when I play recreational poker only.

OnlyCardINeed -- If you are a non-resident alien of the United States, the IRS cares about your net gambling win while you're in the United States. Only the Canadian Government cares about a Canadian's poker playing north of the 49th parallel.

The 1040NR that one fills out to get your money back makes it abundantly clear that even Canadian recreational gamblers pay 30% of their net gambling win for the given year. I used RMS when I won a substantial amount three years ago, and they're very good at what they do. I've taken the time to educate myself on how to fill out the 1040NR, and it usually takes me two hours or so in February to fill the form out and get any cash back that I am due. I understand why people don't want to do it themselves, but you do pay for that privilege.

The ITIN is the ugly thing to do, but most Vegas casinos have someone on staff (when you win big) to help you get that done. For example, I had my application done by the cashout people at the WSOP. Ask nicely when they withhold cash, and they should be able to direct you to the right people.

BUMP....

i'm curious about this subject...........

i assume if you are canadian and you have big $$$ in vegas that it is in fact taxable and you need offsets - losses, fees, expenses etc. - to bring the taxable amount down - hopefully to zero.

and my sense is that if you win $5K and they withhold tax they'll probably just give it back when you file to get it back because it would so easy to come up with those offsets - whether genuine or not.. coming up with $300K of offsets is not so easy.

i saw reference to this.. but does the USA government only care about offsets from the USA? i.e. again fees, losses, expenses incurred in the usa or travelling there. but NOT canadian casino entry fees for example.

thanks in advance