FAIR Bet Act to Restore 100% Gambling Loss Deduction Fails to Pass

The House Rules Committee rejected a bill proposed by Nevada Representative Dina Titus that would restore the 100% tax deduction on gambling losses from the 90% that will begin in January.

Close, But No Cigar

Deducting all of one’s tax losses has been permissible for 70 years, but this upcoming 900-page budget has a code that reduces 100% gambling losses to 90%, and it has drawn the ire of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Beginning in 2026, President Trump’s budget will go into effect, and that stipulation is expected to generate $1.1 billion in revenue over 10 years for the federal government.

However, Representative Dana Titus of Nevada saw her bill, the Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation (FAIR BET) Act, thwarted by the House Rules Committee, which rejected her bill’s inclusion in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It was a bill that was tacked onto this “must-pass” NDAA legislation but did not get past the committee, much to her chagrin.

Titus Expresses Disappointment

Titius made her disappointment known on X, where she posted the following:

“Unfortunately, the GOP-controlled Rules Committee did not accept the FAIR BET Act as an amendment to the NDAA. This was an easy fix that should have been adopted. Nonetheless, I will continue to build support to restore the 100% gambling loss deduction.”

Titus’s bill was one of approximately 1000 trying to take a ride on the back of the NDAA, and it was an uphill fight to explain how critical this bill is to Nevada and the gambling community at large. Although the 10% non-deductible losses that will flow into the federal government may look good on the books, what it does not account for is gamblers taking their business outside of the country and to the offshore market, where gaming sites do not disclose any winnings to the U.S. government.

Next Steps

Although the FAIR BET Act suffered a setback, it is far from dead, and its failure to be attached to the NDAA was likely a reflection of the bill having nothing to do with the NDAA rather than any concerted effort to have it abolished.

The FAIR BET Act will have much more success as a stand-alone bill or attached to a future budget, where it will be more relevant. We will likely see Titus bring the bill up again in early 2026, where it will get a full hearing in front of the House.

Support and Related Bills

The bill has 10 co-sponsors and now sits at the House Committee on Ways and Means. There are also other similar bills seeking to reinstate the 100% gambling loss provision, like Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, also of Nevada, and Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who co-sponsored the Facilitating Unbiased Loss Limitations to Help Our Unique Service Economy (FULL HOUSE) Act last month.

Sen. Cortez Masto said, “Taxing people on money they don’t have will stifle the tourism industry in states like Nevada, push poker tournaments offshore, and drive betting into underground, unregulated markets. There is bipartisan support to fix this mistake, and it is time for my colleagues in both parties and chambers of Congress to get it done.”