Paying Tax at American Casinos

[love2winalot]

Hiya: As far as Taxes go, it all comes down to one thing, "excluding professional poker players/sports betters", and that is, Do you play Slots, or Table Games?

A slot player player wins $1201 and has to file a w2g, and pay taxes on it.
A Table player walks away with $10,000, and has to do nothing at all.

So, besides being a holy roller, you ask, Why would you claim Wins at a Casino, if you did not have to? Simple, as proof of income. Want to buy a house? Show us your tax return for the last 2 years. No one cares where the money came from, just what your gross income from the year was.

[AussieGambler21]

Originally Posted by love2winalot

Hiya: As far as Taxes go, it all comes down to one thing, "excluding professional poker players/sports betters", and that is, Do you play Slots, or Table Games?

A slot player player wins $1201 and has to file a w2g, and pay taxes on it.
A Table player walks away with $10,000, and has to do nothing at all.

So, besides being a holy roller, you ask, Why would you claim Wins at a Casino, if you did not have to? Simple, as proof of income. Want to buy a house? Show us your tax return for the last 2 years. No one cares where the money came from, just what your gross income from the year was.

Ok well i hate slots with a passion so that is out as i will only play table games at a casino, in particular poker, blackjack, Caribbean Stud and maybe some Roulette.

So are you saying that basically, i can live in America, only play Table games at the casinos and not have to declare anything at all (if i don't want to)? No forms, no tax with held, nothing?

[Jasminebed]

We don't tax gambling winnings, lotteries or money won on game shows. Losses are not deductible.

If you have landed immigrant status, you will still have an Australian passport and are able to visit the US. There is a limit to how long you can be out of country and re-admitted though. Not sure how long, maybe 90 days?

There are quite a number of both Government and Native run casinos in most provinces, and VLTs in bars in several provinces.

A lot depends on just where you settle.

[SlotKing]

Originally Posted by AussieGambler21

So are you saying that basically, i can live in America, only play Table games at the casinos and not have to declare anything at all (if i don't want to)? No forms, no tax with held, nothing?

Actually, yes... because since Federal guidelines require taxes be withheld on any wager that is 300x your bet or more, winnings of $1,200+ (slots only) or winnings of $1,500+ (Keno), table games would be your best bet. Since table games do not offer the odds that slot machines/keno/other electronic games do, You could conceivably play table games the entire time, be up hundreds of thousands of dollars, and walk out without having to pay a single cent of federal or state tax.

The only exception to this rule is table game progressive jackpot side bets. Should you happen to win one of these where it is not a fixed-odds payout, you would be required to pay taxes on this. All other table game winnings are exempt from taxes.

[4 of a kind]

[QUOTE=SlotKing;317098] You could conceivably play table games the entire time, be up hundreds of thousands of dollars, and walk out without having to pay a single cent of federal or state tax.



Provided you cash out under 10k per cage visit.

[GrandMaster]

[quote=4 of a kind;317104]

Originally Posted by SlotKing

You could conceivably play table games the entire time, be up hundreds of thousands of dollars, and walk out without having to pay a single cent of federal or state tax.



Provided you cash out under 10k per cage visit.

You are required to pay taxes whether any paperwork is generated. Splitting transactions into smaller ones in order to avoid detection is in itself a crime (structuring, aka "smurfing") with potentially much greater punishments than mere tax evasion. Winning hundreds of thousands of dollars would generate plenty of interest from casino management, not to mention the fact that the casino itself can be punished if it fails to report a series of transactions whose sum exceeds $10,000 in one day.

[4 of a kind]

[quote=GrandMaster;317467]

Originally Posted by 4 of a kind

You are required to pay taxes whether any paperwork is generated. Splitting transactions into smaller ones in order to avoid detection is in itself a crime (structuring, aka "smurfing") with potentially much greater punishments than mere tax evasion. Winning hundreds of thousands of dollars would generate plenty of interest from casino management, not to mention the fact that the casino itself can be punished if it fails to report a series of transactions whose sum exceeds $10,000 in one day.

Yes this quote is absolutely a matter of fact and law. But in the real world especially here in the USA, tax evasion in every form is common practice. Have you been reading about our congressmen, senators, and appointed public servants lately over here. I don't even want to get started with big business. Three recent appointees this past year couldn't even take office has a result of past tax evasion. There must be at least 4 or 5 others we read about everyday here under investigation for the same. These investigations usually involve millions.

I also understand it is righteous and the liability of every citizen to do the right thing. But I can't recall reading one article, or seeing one newscast about one single casino ever reporting any player for tax evasion any where in the world.

Big hits on slot machines are obviously reported. Forget about big hits, you can't even get away with anything over $1200.00 dollars.

Making a huge hit at the tables over 50k usually involves a high roller. If he uses friends and family to cash out to avoid taxes, and even if the casino knows it, no such reporting will ever occur. They would surely be losing a good customer, with no chance of ever getting it back. Sorry, it's just not gonna happen.

Imagine reading an article or seeing a news report about a casino turning in a customer for tax evasion, and three of his buddies also being charged with facilitating tax evasion. They might as well close the doors.

[GrandMaster]

Originally Posted by 4 of a kind

I also understand it is righteous and the liability of every citizen to do the right thing. But I can't recall reading one article, or seeing one newscast about one single casino ever reporting any player for tax evasion any where in the world.

Big hits on slot machines are obviously reported. Forget about big hits, you can't even get away with anything over $1200.00 dollars.

Making a huge hit at the tables over 50k usually involves a high roller. If he uses friends and family to cash out to avoid taxes, and even if the casino knows it, no such reporting will ever occur. They would surely be losing a good customer, with no chance of ever getting it back. Sorry, it's just not gonna happen.

Imagine reading an article or seeing a news report about a casino turning in a customer for tax evasion, and three of his buddies also being charged with facilitating tax evasion. They might as well close the doors.

You misunderstand. Casinos don't report tax evasion, they couldn't even if they wanted to since they cannot know players' future tax returns. They just file currency transaction reports (more than 100,000 a year) and suspicious activity reports (about 10,000 a year). In the casinos everybody is being watched by someone, there would have to be several casino employees involved, and you would need dozen of smurf. It is not as easy as you make it out to be.

One guy who was caught due to currency transaction reports: http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro...ro02-19-04.htm.
MGM Mirage was fined $5 million for failing to file reports between 2001 and 2003: http://www.lvrj.com/business/20282619.html. I bet they pay more attention now.

[4 of a kind]

I could carry on with debate GrandMaster, but really don't see any point. Interesting research, but not really on target.