doublehull Posted November 20, 2006 #1 Share Posted November 20, 2006 Has anyone else ever questioned paying U.S. taxes On Internationally regestered vessels for jackpots won? On my 2nd to last cruise I was fortunate to win 2 jackpots over the $1200.00 limit for taxing by U.S. law. When asked for my SS# and other personal information for the IRS I asked if we wern't in international waters.......I was told yes. I then asked if the ship I was on was not registered in the Bahamas. I was told that it was. I enquired why I was paying US taxes on the open seas to a Bahamian registered ship? I was told that the company HQ was in Miami & that I had to pay. I told them I did't care wher there HQ was & I reminded them of our location & registry & that if I were in Nassau I would not have to pay tax. After about 10 min. I was brought my full jackpot dollars in cash without paperwork. I had then hit another one & was paid in full. Any legal people or us CC members out there who would like to comment on this? Thank you in advance for your reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAXWEBSTER Posted November 20, 2006 #2 Share Posted November 20, 2006 I don't have an answer to your question but would just like to add to it. I had the same thing happen to me on the Veendam (HAL) about 5 years ago but I didn't need to argue nearly as much as you did. I just had to say "why would I pay US taxes when we're on a Bahamian flagged ship in international waters? There was no further argument on the ship’s part. As she instantly peeled off my winnings (in full) in $100 bills, the beautiful British woman on the Bahamian flagged "Dutch" ship owned by a Cayman holding company and leased to a US corporation merely told me… "Ok, but remember, as a US citizen you are required to report these winnings on your return." I may have forgotten to do so... I don't remember. It would be interesting to know how much, if any, of these "taxes" collected are reported and paid to the US (or any) government. If there are indeed any taxes to be collected, I would think they would belong to the nation of registry, not the loaction of the corporate office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkjretired Posted November 20, 2006 #3 Share Posted November 20, 2006 There is no regulation that they have to take taxes out, only that they report it unless you can't provide an SS #. Below is a link to an article that explains that they are required to take the proper actions however don't always do so. The last sentence is that you may not know whether they are reporting it or not. I received a big jackpot in Vegas and had no taxes taken out and did not receive any forms from the company issuing the jackpot. They will report it in Jan to the IRS and I will receive my 1099G at that time. On the ships, another thing to keep in mind is many of the casinos are not run by the cruiseline but by private entities who probably have corporate policies on how they handle these issues. http://www.cruise-casinos.com/jackpots.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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