Do Foreigners Pay Taxes on Gambling Winnings in the US?

Yes, foreigners generally do pay taxes on gambling winnings in the US: a flat 30% federal tax is withheld from most winnings paid to a nonresident alien, taken by the casino or sportsbook before you’re handed the money.¹ Two things change the answer. What game you played can eliminate the tax entirely, and where you live can too. A $10,000 slot jackpot turns into $7,000 at the cashier window, but the same $10,000 won at a blackjack table is yours to keep, and a visitor from the United Kingdom who wins on a slot machine can get every dollar back if the paperwork is in order.

You count as a nonresident alien for these purposes if you don’t hold a green card and don’t meet the substantial presence test.² The 30% applies to gross winnings, not net. You cannot subtract what you wagered or what you lost earlier in the trip.¹ A US citizen who wins $10,000 and loses $8,000 the same weekend can offset those losses on a tax return. A nonresident alien in the same seat generally cannot.

Five Table Games Are Exempt for Everyone

Federal law exempts nonresident aliens from tax on winnings from five specific games: blackjack, baccarat, craps, roulette, and the big-6 wheel.³ Win at any of those and you keep the full amount. No withholding at the cage, no Form 1042-S, no W-8BEN needed for those particular winnings.⁴

Everything else falls under the standard 30% rule. Slot machines, keno, bingo, poker tournaments, sports bets, and sweepstakes are all taxed at the full rate on gross winnings.

Treaty Countries That Owe Nothing

The United States has tax treaties with many countries, and a long list of them wipe out the tax on gambling income entirely. According to IRS Publication 515 (2026), residents of these countries owe zero US tax on gambling winnings: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.⁴

Malta gets a reduced rate of 10% rather than the full 30%.⁴ Two recent changes are worth flagging. The Hungary treaty terminated effective January 1, 2024, and the gambling provisions of the Russia treaty were suspended as of August 16, 2024. Residents of those two countries now face the full 30% withholding.

The treaty benefit is not automatic. To get it at the cage, you must hand the casino a completed Form W-8BEN before payout, and the form has to include either a US taxpayer identification number or a foreign tax identification number.⁵ Miss that step and the casino withholds 30% by default. You can still get the money back later, but only by filing a US tax return and waiting months for a refund. This is the single most expensive mistake treaty-country visitors make.

Canadians Have a Different Route

Canada isn’t on the zero-tax list. Canadian residents get hit with the 30% withholding at the casino like anyone else, but the US–Canada treaty lets them deduct gambling losses against gambling winnings the way a US resident would. A Canadian who wins $15,000 but lost $12,000 during the same trip can file Form 1040-NR with Form 8833 attached to recover the tax paid on the $12,000.⁶ You’ll need documentation of the losses. Session logs, receipts, and player card records all help; unsubstantiated loss claims can be challenged.

Sports Betting and Non-Cash Prizes

Sports wagering is not one of the exempt games. A nonresident alien who wins a US sports bet owes the full 30% on the gross payout.⁴ Licensed online sportsbooks and mobile betting apps follow the same rule; the platform is the withholding agent, exactly as a physical casino would be.

Non-cash prizes get awkward. If you win a car or a vacation package, the payer figures out fair market value and must withhold 30% of that figure.⁷ Because you can’t hand over 30% of a car, you generally have to pay the withholding in cash before taking the prize. If you can’t, the options are to decline the prize or ask the payer to gross up the withholding, which increases the total tax.

How To Get Your Money Back

If 30% was withheld and you believe you shouldn’t have owed it, or you owe less under a treaty, you recover it by filing a US tax return. Three pieces of paper matter, and the order they come together in decides how painful the process is.

Get an ITIN

You need a taxpayer identification number to claim treaty benefits or to file a return. If you don’t have a Social Security number, that means an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Apply on Form W-7 with your original passport or a certified copy from the issuing government. A passport is the only single document that establishes both identity and foreign status on its own.⁸

Mailing an original passport to the IRS makes most people uneasy, and there’s an alternative. An IRS-authorized Certifying Acceptance Agent can verify your documents in person and submit the application without you parting with the passport.⁹ Some large casinos keep an acceptance agent on-site. The process usually takes several weeks, so apply well before any trip where you expect this to matter.

Keep Your Form 1042-S

When a casino withholds tax on a nonresident alien’s winnings, it reports the payment on Form 1042-S rather than the Form W-2G used for US persons. The casino must send your copy by March 15 of the year after the win.¹⁰ Hold onto it. The IRS matches this form against your refund claim, and chasing a replacement from a US casino by international mail is slow.

File Form 1040-NR

Nonresident aliens use Form 1040-NR to report US gambling income and claim refunds. You can e-file through tax software or a preparer, which is faster to track than paper. Paper returns go to the IRS service center in Austin, Texas.¹¹

If gambling is your only US income and you have no US employer, the filing deadline is June 15, the 15th day of the sixth month after the tax year ends.¹² If you also had US wages subject to withholding, the deadline moves up to April 15.¹¹

The IRS itself warns that refunds tied to tax withheld on Form 1042-S can take up to six months to process.¹¹ If they need more documentation, they mail a letter to the address on the return, which stretches the timeline further. Use a US mailing address you actually check, whether a friend, a preparer’s office, or a mail forwarding service.

Don’t Miss the Three-Year Window

You generally have three years from the date you filed the return, or two years from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later, to claim a refund.¹³ After that, the money is gone. The IRS has no discretion to extend the period. For a visitor from a treaty-exempt country who had 30% withheld only because a W-8BEN wasn’t ready at the cage, that deadline is the line between a full refund and a permanent loss.

State Taxes Are a Separate Layer

Federal tax is only part of the picture in some places. Many states charge their own income tax on gambling winnings earned inside their borders, including winnings paid to nonresidents. Nevada, Florida, and Texas have no state income tax, so gambling there triggers only the federal rules. Other states will add a state filing obligation on top of the federal return, and the rates and thresholds vary. Check the rules for the specific state before the trip.

Professional Gamblers Are Taxed Differently

All of the above describes recreational gamblers, meaning visitors who gamble on a trip. A nonresident alien who gambles full-time, regularly, and as a primary source of income may be treated as conducting a US trade or business. In that case, winnings are taxed at graduated rates rather than a flat 30%, and losses and business expenses can be deducted against winnings.¹ The threshold is high. Courts look at how much time you spend gambling, whether you treat it as a livelihood, and your history of profits. Two weeks of serious poker on vacation doesn’t qualify. Several months a year on the US tournament circuit might.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 871 – Tax on Nonresident Alien Individuals
2
Internal Revenue Service. Determining an Individual’s Tax Residency Status
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 871 – Tax on Nonresident Alien Individuals
4
Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Publication 515
5
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-8BEN (Rev. October 2021)
6
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 597 Information on the United States-Canada Income Tax Treaty
7
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms W-2G and 5754
8
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7 (12/2024)
9
Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Acceptance Agent Program
10
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1042-S (2026)
11
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1040-NR (2025)
12
Internal Revenue Service. Taxation of Nonresident Aliens
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6511 – Limitations on Credit or Refund