Legislation that would restore the full federal tax deduction for gambling losses is back on track Wednesday a bill by Rep. Dina Titus passed out of committee and now awaits a House vote.
Titus, D-Nev., said she is encouraging House colleagues to consider the legislation by the end of the year.
“After 14 months of fighting to get this commonsense, bipartisan fix through committee, we must now encourage the House to approve this measure before Jan. 1, 2027,” Titus said in a release announcing the committee’s action.
The bill was approved by the House Ways and Means committee after it was attached to the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act.
“This would stop the reduction to 90 percent from taking effect and ensure gamblers across the nation do not pay this tax on phantom money they never won,” she said. “Altering the tax code was a ruse in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill at the expense of recreational and professional gamblers. As I have said many times, it must be fixed.”
The provision to lower the tax deduction to 90 percent was a part of President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, a sweeping federal tax-and-spending law signed into law July 4, 2025.
Titus has been battling to change the law back to its original wording to allow all gambling losses to be deducted when calculating federal income tax liability.
Titus’ last attempt to restore the bill ended in January when the House Rules committee failed to advance an amendment to an appropriations bill that would have made the change. Titus’ effort to incorporate the change in the spending bill was one of nearly 70 amendments introduced.
Even if the full House votes on the FAIR BET Act, the legislation would need passage from the Senate. Nevada’s Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jackie Rosen have co-sponsored the FULL HOUSE Act (Facilitating Useful Loss Limitations to Help Our Unique Service Economy Act) with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
If legislation ultimately is passed, Trump would have to agree to sign it before it could become law.
“I am disappointed it took the House committee so long to take action,” Titus said in a release. “I spoke at a Ways and Means committee field hearing in Las Vegas in July 2025 to bring the consequences of reducing the deduction to their attention. Over the next several months, I wrote letters to the committee urging it to include the fix in an upcoming package. Nothing happened until now, when the House will be out of session until after the election. The Republican House leadership must bring this provision to the floor, and the Senate must also expeditiously pass it if we are to prevent the tax from taking effect and harming gamblers nationwide.”
The FAIR BET Act has 25 co-sponsors as well as backing from the American Gaming Association, resort companies MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts Ltd., national online digital sportsbooks DraftKings and FanDuel, as well as the Nevada Resort Association and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
The FAIR BET Act is House Resolution 4304, formally known as the Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation Act.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
