When Fed Tax or No Fed Tax?

[onemoretry]

While I would assume a US driver's license, if that is what you have, would be sufficient, its best to check with the players club of the casino in which you will be playing. All casinos may not have the same requirement.

ITINS are not issued by casinos, they are obtained by applying to the IRS. An ITIN is an identification number given to individuals without SSNs, and who are ineligible to get one (non resident aliens, for example), who are filing a US tax return.
I

[OTABILL]

While I would assume a US driver's license, if that is what you have, would be sufficient, its best to check with the players club of the casino in which you will be playing. All casinos may not have the same requirement.

ITINS are not issued by casinos, they are obtained by applying to the IRS. An ITIN is an identification number given to individuals without SSNs, and who are ineligible to get one (non resident aliens, for example), who are filing a US tax return.
I

OMT, I am fully aware of what is an ITIN. Our UK poster was asking what form of ID he would need for a hand pay. I don't carry any id that has my SSN. Driver's license nor Medicaid card have it. Whether you have a Social Security Number or an Individual Tax Identification Number, you need to prove your identity. My assumption is a US issued driver's license should be sufficient. Someone who has gotten a hand pay recently may be better suited to answer whether a driver's license works.

[onemoretry]

Our UK poster was asking what form of ID he would need for a hand pay.

I guess the way the question was phrased is a bit confusing. But, to me, asking if "the Passport is a mandatory requirement......sufficient for them to complete the ITIN" suggested they wanted to know about getting an ITIN - but I could be wrong.

Perhaps the OP could clarify?

[PredsDawgs]

When I received my first hand pay the other day, I actually asked the slot attendant what people normally do with the federal tax. She said it goes both ways. Some people just want it taken out immediately so they can forget about it and not worry about it until they do their taxes. And other people want as much money up front to take with them as they can.

So when I asked how much it would be, she said 24%! And I'm thinking, that's nuts! That was nearly $400 of my winnings. So I made a hard pass and took the W2 and will deal with it when I do my taxes at the end of the year.

That's why winning less than $1,200 is ideal. I believe table games you get to keep all of your winnings even though I know the casino takes a rake.

It's like, congratulations you won, now everyone else has their hand out!

[olds442jetaway]

We can write off all of our losses against gross winnings on our 1040, but you have to itemize your deductions to be able to do it. Most people just take the standard deduction nowadays. Unfortunately gross winnings includes all winnings, not just those on the W-2G . The tax law on gambling income and deductions is very convoluted.

[onemoretry]

So when I asked how much it would be, she said 24%! And I'm thinking, that's nuts! That was nearly $400 of my winnings. So I made a hard pass and took the W2 and will deal with it when I do my taxes at the end of the year.

For Canadians, it's even worse. There is a mandatory 30% withholding. Then, we have to file a US tax return to, hopefully, get it all back.

[rascal]

Olds, yes. you can write it off against your losses, but regardless of write-offs the wins will increase your gross income. Very important consideration. Gross income can move you into a higher tax bracket and it can also increase your Medicare costs.
I know of several otherwise responsible citizens who got into tax trouble because they had multiple nice wins and did not handle them properly. When playing at a higher denom, you *must* take tax considerations into account.
The gambling taxable threshold hasn't changed in many years, even as inflation has.....very unfair but that's life. In my opinion, write-offs for losses should be allowed to bring your total taxable earnings back into a lower tax bracket, because that's your REAL income. But the way the IRS looks at it, regardless of whether you splurged on a fancy boat or splurged on gambling at a casino, you simply spent some of your taxable income.....

[olds442jetaway]

Exactly. When you buy a stock for 5,000 bucks, sell it for 7,000 and do your tax return, only 2,000 goes into your AGI not the entire 5,000. There are so many considerations to be aware of both State and Federal when it comes to gambling. One we in particular get destroyed on is the 10,000 cap on an itemized deduction for State and local taxes. If it were not for the Gross Gambling reporting rules, we would just be taking the Standard Deduction. More often than not, we get screwed on the increases Medicare part B premiums as well and the State of Ct has its hand out to grab another 7 percent of the Gross.