For tax filing purposes? Cite the reg, please.

I will give a short warning to anyone who is a non-American professional from a non-Tax Treaty county looking at this as a means of obtaining a refund of the 30% withholding: The US taxes you on your worldwide income. A nonresident professional gambler conducting a business in the US would, on his Schedule C, have to note his worldwide income. If he happens to reside in a country that does not tax gambling (or does not file tax returns with that country), you might not like the result. Even if it does tax gambling, the tax credit for double taxation would be taken on your home country's tax return.

Anyone contemplating this should speak to a tax professional.

-- Russ Fox

Hi Russ. Isn't this the case only for U.S. Residents, not non-resident aliens? The instructions for the Form 1040NR say:
Seems to me a non-resident only has to report their gambling income that is "effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business in which you were engaged" and not all worldwide income.

This IRS article also seems to support that:
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/inte...ted-income-eci

Lol @ the common law "system".

RJ bell wouldn't have made this mistake


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They file as business activity 713200; Gambling Industries. But you're right, that isn't exactly "Professional Gambler," so you win the battle of the trolls.

Because you are potentially engaging in large financial transactions that require proof of identity which these days means proof of address.

There's no doubt that a professional gambler in, say, the Czech Republic who comes to the US to play the WSOP is still a professional gambler. And there's also no doubt that his US-effectively connected income is what he earns while at the WSOP (assuming that's the only gambling he does in the US). The problem lies with, "Is he conducting a business in the United States?"

This isn't a simple question, and it's the crux of the issue. This part of the Tax Code was established for, say, a resident of Prague who happens to own a business in the US--something that operates the entire year in the US. Say he owns a florist shop in Tulsa. That business is noted on his Form 1040NR; his florist shops in Prague are not.

-- Russ Fox

Interesting. Still, I can see this as an issue as to whether or not a non-resident professional gambler is allowed to report their US gambling income as business income on a Schedule C, but not as an issue of "the US taxes you on your worldwide income" as you wrote above.

Did this guy ever get his money ? Trying to wade through this makes my brain hurt

Foreign nationals who expect a significant amount of income from a US source are almost always well advised to obtain a US tax identification number. This is a time consuming and possibly confusing and frustrating process.

However, it is something that almost any US CPA or enrolled agent can accomplish for a nominal fee. In other words, if you desire to play in Las Vegas or some other USA location, discuss the tax situation with a local professional several months in advance of the event.

This isn't very accurate.
Vegas casinos will apply for the ITIN number for you and pay you out in full, with the ITIN number pending.
I didn't receive mine from the IRS until a couple of weeks after I got home, but I still got the full payout..

Not that difficult to get an ITIN.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/gene...in-information

A question mainly for PokerXanadu and Russ Fox:

Sorry, if this was already explained in the thread, but who and how exactly determines whether I (a non-resident) am a "professional gambler" when it comes to the law and taxes?

I am a Slovakian and if I wanted to play poker for a living, I would've simply enlisted myself as "deliberately unemployed" (rough translation, not sure what the exact legal term for that is) and that would have been the end of it.

Also, is there a difference, when it comes to paying taxes from WSOP winnings, whether one is a professional gambler or not?

dobrovoľne nezamestnaný, literally "voluntarily unemployed" can be translated more naturally as something like "unemployed and not seeking work". For example you pay your own health insurance in this situation rather than the government paying it for you as it would if you were unemployed and seeking work.

The reason you would be registered (only) in this way is that tax is paid by the casino and for the players themselves gambling is tax free - which is a situation not unique to Slovakia. For example, what do British residents do?

I had exactly the same issue (mine is even worse I think).

I ran deepish in the Collossus last year and went to get paid out. I'm British but I'm a permanent resident of the US and I used my green card (that's a US government issue ID, on it's own, no need for a second form of ID) to register for all the tournaments I played.

When I went to get paid I provided my player's card and green card and they said it wasn't enough to pay me out, I also had my British passport on me but obviously that wasn't enough as it doesn't have proof of address.

They let me use the computer in the back to print off a bank statement which had my address in New York on it, and that was enough for them, but I did panic initially.

The issue I had afterwards is I couldn't find any details of needing anything other than my Green Card to get paid out on the website - maybe that's changed this year, but the only mention of ID required I could find in the FAQ about registration and Green Card is enough on its own. In fact here's what it says this year:

What Photo ID’s are acceptable?
The following forms of ID are acceptable:
US RESIDENT:
 Driver’s license or State issued Photo ID
 US Passport (A second form of ID that indicates physical address will be required, i.e. driver’s license, utility bill,
credit card statement, etc.)
 Passport card
 Military ID
 Permanent Resident Alien Card (Must say Permanent, if not must show Passport)

I understand why they would want a proof of address looking back on it but it doesn't ****ing say it!

I don't know. What do they do?

Read:

amazing. i had been living out of hotels a lot of the last year and had no residence until recently. i imagine people in that spot could have had issues.

one word: america.

It is if you're a foreign national and don't speak, read, or write English. (And don't even know you'd want one.)
But don't let facts interfere with assertions.

^ The words "good enough" have a pleasant ring. But don't stop trolling, bruv.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7sp.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/russian
https://www.irs.gov/chinese
Dont let a quick google seach deter your trolling.

Play anywhere else in the world and you dont get this hassle. USA has lost it's freedoms.

My friend groovin tells me you are still in the main GL


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