per instructions for w2g in 3 places
"you may be required to withhold 28% of gambling winnings for fedral
income tax , you should backup withold at the 28% rate if:
The winner does not provide a correct taxpayer identification number
(TIN)"
also
"You must withold federal income tax at the rate of 25% if winnings
minus the wager exceeds $5,000.00, If the winner does not provide a
TIN , you must backup withold at the rate of 28% on any such winnings
that are NOT subject to 25% regular gambling witholding"
and
"regular gambling witholding (25%) does not apply to winnings from
bingo ,keno, or slot machines. However, if the recepiant of the
reportable gambling winnings from bingo, keno , or slot machines does
NOT provide a TIN, you must backup withold at the rate of 28%. That
is, if the winnings are at least $1,200.00 from bingo or slot
machines or $1,500.00 from keno, 28% backup witholding applies to the
winnings"
What this means is the only thing the casino can do if you dont
provide your ssn is deduct 28% for witholding & give you a w2g
without the ssn on form, When you then file your return you fill in
the ssn & claim the income & witholding.
and YES this has been done before & the IRS will accept it,
with id theft growing this is a good alternative, BUT
expect the casino boothlings not understand, you might have
to "educate" them.
I have tried to forward the PDF file of the 4 page instructions
earlier,
You can go to irs.gov as mentioned in a previous post & find the
instructions yourself.
I keep a copy with me whan i gamble, never know!
M J