Very helpful. Cheers all.
Really?? I always find the threads on this subject really confusing.
"You don"t need to worry about it"... "You should apply as soon as possible"... "They pay in chips"... "they pay in cash"...
I asked the question to Dan Carpenter, one of the Venetian TD"s, last year. He told me not to worry about it, they just pay out in chips, no with-holding... now it appears the V have changed their policy!
It also my understanding that you can not apply for an ITIN until you actually have a need for it... this came from a phone call to the IRS office at the US embassy in London... but then that was about 18 months ago.
The simple answer is that
you do not have to pay tax on gambling winnings in the US... due to an agreement between the the UK & US governments. However, unless you have an ITIN (which is an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, kind of like a SSN for non-US citizens), a casino may with-hold 30% of your winnings. They forward this money to the IRS and then you have to file a tax return with the IRS to re-claim it... at this point yoou would be issued with an ITIN and not have any probs in the future.
As already stated, some rooms will sort out the paperwork for you once you get deep enough into the money for it to be an issue, and then pay out in full.
My advice, for what it"s worth, is...
don"t worry about it.
First you have to get deep enough into a tournament with a big enough prize pool that there is likely to be a problem... then there are three scenarios...
1. They pay you in chips or cash in full, with no mention of with-holdings.
2. They sort out the paperwork for you and payout in full. **
3. They with-hold 30%, which you then claim back.
** My second piece of advice...
have your passport on you.