I am a Canadian citizen who won $1,000.00 when scatching a lottery ticket in Florida last April. I claimed the prize but $300.00 was withheld for US taxes. The lottery office provided me with a 1042-S form to reclain this amount from the IRS. My question is, when can I file and how do I go about re-claining my $300.00?

Unless you have significant gambling LOSSES to offset the $1,000 in winnings, do NOT bother filing.

You would file Form 1040NR as a non-resident alien, and claim the $1,000 gambling winnings on Page 4 of Form 1040NR. You would then subtract the gambling losses incurred INSIDE the United States in 2010. Note that you MUST be able to PROVE the gambling losses incurred, which is not a problem if you gambled in U.S. casinos and used the casino's players card when you gambled. Otherwise, proving the loss may be a problem.

The tax rate on gambling winning for Canadian residents is 30%, so if you have no offsetting gambling lossses to claim, submitting the Form 1040NR is a waste of time.

I agree with AtlantaTaxExpert. Also do note that you will need an ITIN to file your 1040NR

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Good catch on the ITIN requirement! Forgot about that requirement.