Hello , everyone.
I'm not quite sure , if I'm writing in the proper section but I think it's the one that fits my question the most. Hopefully somebody would give me a hand.

Few days ago I've won a LAPC side event in Commerce Casino , LA , CA for 170k and have been withheld a tax of 7% of my winnings. There is a tax agreement between Bulgaria and USA so non of the citizens should pay taxes from gambling winnings in the relevant country. I've been playing in Las Vegas for 5 WSOPs and never been withheld any kind of taxation because of this agreement.
I was wondering , if somebody can recommend me an accountant or a lawyer , which is aware with this kind of tricky international spots. Maybe anybody have an idea , which Municipality I should contact or how I can request my tax refund.
Any kind of information would be helpful. I believe other Non USA citizens my have had the same issues or will have.
Thank you.

Well, what they withheld was not Federal tax, it was State tax.
California does that to players who are not residents of California. It has nothing to do with the fact that you are not a US citizen. They do this to New York residents too.

FTB is the California Franchise Tax Board.

If it was Federal tax they would've withheld a lot more than 7%. I believe its 20%.

FYP

The OP is probably not going to like what I'm writing, but it is quite possible you will owe more tax to California rather than getting a refund (assuming you file a California tax return) for 2016. California has one of the highest state tax rates in the US; at high incomes, it goes to 13.3%. The OP is likely in the 9.3% tax bracket for California.

For nonresidents, California tax is calculated by (and this is a simplification) taking what your tax would be on your worldwide income (both in California and anywhere else), and multiplying by the ratio of California income to your worldwide income.

Put simply, assuming the OP continues to have a good year that 7% is in the coffers in Sacramento for good.

-- Russ Fox

Well , I believe Federal laws should be >>> state laws , no ? I was told by the TD , that because of this agreement I won't be taxed anything else but the 7% for sure. The thing is I knew about that tax , but was thinking because not american citizen there should be a way to return it.
Anyways , if anybody has an lawyer or account dealing with this taxes or annual taxes reports give me his contact.

Russ Fox is one of your best choices. As a newly registered user, you can't contact anyone through this forum. But you can find Russ by doing a google search for:
russ fox las vegas

Said I'd post here as opposed to making a new thread as I've a similar issue.

I'm an Irish citizen (there is a tax treaty between USA and Ireland) and was lucky enough to win money in a promotional giveaway in a California casino. The amount was $750 and i received $472.50 as there was money withheld for taxes I was told ($225 for "Federal income tax" and 52.50 for "State winnings" according to the "W-2G Certain Gambling Winnings" form).

My first question is, given there is a tax treaty, is the casino entitled to withold this money?

Also, could this be applicable to poker (tournament or cash game) winnings?

I was under the impression all gambling winnings were tax free due to the tax treaty between the two countries, but I wasn't if, because this was a special promotion and more like a lottery win, special rules applied in this case that would not occur with cash game or tournament winnings (e.g. I couldn't "write off any losses" with a special promo free money giveaway but if I cash in a tournament for 100k or if I cash out of a cash game for 10k, I could still be down for the year).

Thanks in advance.

i plan to travel to cali from australia and most likely play cash games. will i have to pay tax on winnings? i'll most likely be on some kind of tourist or non-working visa.

Is there a list of local taxes in all the US states ?
Im from Norway and find the tax a bit confusing when I want to play tournaments.

What casino is holding back is as far as I know:
Vegas: win up to $5000 netto = no tax. 30% over that
Los Angeles: 30% + 7% local tax from first netto dollar
Florida: 30% from first netto dollar. No local tax

The U.S. federal government requires casinos/cardrooms to report tournament winnings over $5,000 for income tax purposes. Finland has a tax treaty with the U.S. which includes an exemption for gambling income from U.S. income tax. If you follow the proper procedures and paperwork, you can either avoid the federal 30% withholding on winnings over $5,000 or get it refunded to you by filing a U.S. income tax return for foreigners. See the "Q: What if I have dual citizenship, or am visiting from another country?" section in the US Tax Sticky for more info.

You may also be liable for state income tax in some states, like California (I think California is 5%). Florida is not one of them, nor is Nevada. There is no "local" or sales tax on winnings anywhere in the U.S.