US Withholding Idea - Sports Betting

JimmyHo

I was talking to Blackmagicz last night about ways to get back the 30% withholding tax from his recent Las Vegas trip cashes. Basically, as a Canadian you have to provide the IRS with proof of losses to offset your winnings to recover the full 30% of withholding tax. This can be very difficult for some players that have a major win.

The typical solution is to scour the sports areas at the major casinos to try and find losing tickets that were paid for with cash.


One idea I thought might work was to find a sporting event where the spread is almost equal (not sure how difficult this is?); for example, if you bought a $1,000 ticket for the over and a $1,000 ticket for the under, both for cash. One of these tickets would be a winner, which you cash. The losing ticket could be used for tax purposes to claim back the withholding. I'm not sure if the sports books withhold on winning tickets for non-residents, similar to poker winnings? if so, is it only for a certain dollar amount?

The real key if this strategy is feasible is finding a sports event where the spread is nominal for both sides of the transaction.

Are there currently any other 'stategies' being used by Canadian poker players to generate losses to recover the 30% withholding?

Some details on general withholding rates for various activities:

http://usgamblingrefund.com/taxable-games.html

blackmagicz

Yeah it will be very tough to find this spread as even betting on MLB you still have a huge swing between + and - depending on team...

westside8

I think with point spread in football is probably the closest you'll get to a line where its +/- 110

Icedog

I have a american licence issued in Florida because my parents are residents there. I used it in the casino once when I was visiting and they had cash giveaway at the poker tables where they choose a table/seat randomly, you spin the wheel and you get what ever amount you land on. They choosed me and I used my Florida licence to get the full payout.

SuitedPair

Icedog wrote: »

I have a american licence issued in Florida because my parents are residents there. I used it in the casino once when I was visiting and they had cash giveaway at the poker tables where they choose a table/seat randomly, you spin the wheel and you get what ever amount you land on. They choosed me and I used my Florida licence to get the full payout.

Yeah, not something you should be posting online sir.