Haven't played in any Vegas tournaments of any size in the last few years to potentially make a large score but this year I am playing the Big 50 as well as other tournaments in June. Is the general rule at Vegas tournaments that the 30% withholding is only applied for net winnings of over 5K? I know it used to be but want to know if any Vegas casinos withhold for wins less than that. The reason that I'm wondering is that when I was in Tampa for baseball spring training in March I won a stupid $300. hourly high hand and they withheld the 30% and this was only playing cash.

i believe its still like that, the 300 highand thing was like winning a slot jackpot so thats why it got taxed.

I’m sure you’re aware of it, but since your thread title is kinda unclear: There is a tax treaty between the US and Canada.

Uncle sam wants his cut. Pay up.

Although there is a tax treaty, the US does not respect the "no tax on gambling winnings" section of the Canadian tax code. Unlike residents of some other countries that do not tax gambling winnings, for instance Great Britain, Canadian gamblers in the US are subject to the same withholding that US residents are.

Canadian gamblers will usually have great difficulty recovering any portion of what is withheld; even recovering legitimate expenses like tournament buy-ins or hotel and travel costs can be problematic.

In fact, Canadian gamblers who enjoy a big win might be better off declaring themselves to be Professional Gamblers (who are required to pay tax on winnings in Canada,) in hopes of using reciprocal tax agreements to pay taxes on their winnings in Canada instead of in the States, thus saving a few percentage points due to a lower top tax rate.

Probably the same as for the EU members. If you want your tax money back, you will have to get a "paper" beforehand so you will get your paid tax money back into your Canadian bank account. Different parts of the USA have different limits; Vegas has that 5k.

Getting back the tournament fee is basically automatic. Hotel and travel you only get if a business expense which means you must declare to be a pro.

Normally at least at a federal level in cash poker the breakpoint is $600 for taxing at fed level. $1200 at slots iirc.

I dunno anything specific about Canadians but I recently looked into it, and the short story is, it is very difficult to get any money money back from the 30% other than the buyin for the very same tourney you cashed in

All you have to do is show gambling losses AFAIK, which should be a snap for most of you guys.