Sunday, April 25, 2010

Gambling Winnings now Taxed in New Hampshire

Tax Form DP-300 Finally Released!

Haven't heard of Form DP-300? If you are a resident of New Hampshire, or hit a lucky streak while visiting New Hampshire, you might want to read on.

In July of 2009 the state of New Hampshire legislature passed a law that imposes a 10% tax on gross gambling winnings. Although the form required to file this new tax – Form DP-300, wasn't available until late February, 2010, you may still be required to file for the 2009 tax year.

Who is required to pay? This new tax applies to all New Hampshire residents, regardless of where they received the winnings. So if you currently reside in the granite state but hit the jackpot in Las Vegas, Nevada, you will still have to pay the newly imposed taxes in the state of New Hampshire. When it comes to taxes, what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas.

Not a resident of New Hampshire? Don't breathe easy just yet, if you had any gambling winnings in the state of New Hampshire, you too will be subject to the 10% tax. The determining factor is if you received a federally required W-2G form from a New Hampshire payer.

The form itself is fairly simple, with most of the information required available on the W-2G form.

However, if you aren't sure if this new tax applies to you, it's in your best interest to follow up and file as soon as possible. Lack of knowledge will not excuse you from paying interest and penalties if you don't file on time. Form DP-300 gives you the opportunity to determine how much you might own in interest. The interest rate is 6% or decimal equivalent .000164. The equation to figure out the exact amount (Number of days x daily rate decimal equivalent x Tax due = interest) is also detailed on the back side of the form.

The penalties for failure to pay and failure to file are much stiffer. The penalty for failure to pay is 10% unless you fraudulently attempt to hide your winnings, then the penalty jumps to 50% of the amount of non-payment.

Example: You won $10,000 at the Happy New Hampshire Casino, because you were late to discover the new tax law, you filed form DP-300 two weeks late. Your fees would be:

Tax - $1000 (10%)

Interest - $2.296 (14 days x .000164 x $1000)

Penalty - $100 (10% of nonpayment)

Total - $1,102.296

Form DP-300 can be found at www.revenue.nh.gov/forms/By_Number/documents/dp_300.pdf

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