http://www.taxabletalk.com/2017/02/1...r-issue-itins/

Seems going forward Vegas casinos will no longer issue ITINs for citizens of tax treaty countries. As someone without a ITIN and who will be going to Vegas this year does anyone have experience with applying for the ITIN directly from the IRS?

Add the problem of proving loses.

If you have a existing itin and relocate to a different tax treaty country, do you need to get a new itin or are they able to just update the old one?

I won a $900 jackpot in November, but haven't claimed the $300 I had to pay in taxes yet. Hope this doesn't screw me over!

Don't think this has anything to do with you, ITINs make it so you never pay taxes at the casino. AFAIK, Canada and Australia don't get ITINs but you can still get the money back.

In my experience you should only have needed the ITIN if you won more than $5000. That is certainly the case in Vegas (indeed US) poker rooms. How come you needed an ITIN when you won only $900?

As a Canadian who had to get an ITIN for a non-gambling reason it was a colossal PITA.

In theory you could do it by mail but you have to send original legal documents, even notarized copies are not sufficient. So obviously mailing your ID/passport is out.

Another option is to have a certified copy of your document made at an embassy, you can mail these in, but booking an appointment at the embassy would cost $100

I ended up just going to the IRS office in person while on vacation in Vegas. Note that not all IRS offices provide ITIN services.

I'm not sure if it's exactly the same process for gambling wins, or if it's easier in other countries.

I'm a complete noob when it comes to gambling-related taxes in the US. This was my first time ever playing there. When the floor paid me out they provided a receipt with tax information, and that was the end of it.

I do know that I am allowed to claim the tax portion. When I looked into it there was a 42-page document, both information and forms, so I put it off until "later". I vaguely remember it saying I had to apply for a tax number of some sort, but I don't remember what exactly it said.

Thanks for the responses

WSOP have disputed that they are unable to issue ITIN's.

https://www.pokernews.com/news/2017/...tins-27126.htm

Preface: I work for an accounting firm and we deal with ITIN applications everyday.

The IRS has really cracked down on ITIN applications in the past few years and unless you are able to get them your original passport, or a certified copy of your passport, then you will not be issued an ITIN. The firm I work with is a Certified Acceptance Agent, which means we are able to determine the validity of your passport and can "certify" that it is real. This way, you do not need to send in your actual passport or go to an embassy to have the passport certified.

If you are looking to use your ITIN to obtain a treaty benefit, then the easiest thing to do would be to make an appointment at the local IRS office and you can meet with an agent who will help you through the process (as someone mentioned earlier, make sure they are able to help with ITINs, as every office is not equipped to do so). However, they cannot issue you an ITIN on the spot, it will still need to be processed by the IRS, which takes up to 3 months. If you choose this route, most casinos will give you the option to leave your winnings with them until you obtain your ITIN. Once you are assigned an ITIN, you can give it to the casino and they can give you the winnings without withholding 30% for taxes.

If you are trying to obtain an ITIN to receive a refund for money withheld, the best thing to do would be to contact an accountant familiar with the process. They will be able to help you apply for an ITIN AND will be able to file a tax return for you all at the same time.

ITINs will now expire after 5 years of inactivity. If you have used it in the past 5 years then you are fine, you would just have to prove your new residence with a passport, local ID, etc.

If you have residency in a tax treaty country, but citizenship with one that is not from a tax treaty country - how do the withholdings work? Is it based on citizenship or residency.

^^ 99% certain its based on residency unless your from the land of the free that taxes you on your worldwide income of course.

Canadian citizen residing in the U.K has nothing withheld just bring a bank statement/utility bill to prove your residence.

It is based on residency.

As the two previous posters have mentioned, it is based on residency at the time of the win. This prevents people from winning a tournament in January, moving from Canada to the UK to establish residency, and then skipping out on U.S. taxes altogether

I seem to recall that the Norwegian guy who came second in the ME in 2014, had been living in London for a few years but not long enough to be exempt from norwegian taxation, which meant he had to pay a truckload of tax. Couldn´t get my head round that.