A congressional effort to restore the full federal tax deduction for gambling losses cleared a key committee Wednesday, but lawmakers still need to get the change through both chambers of Congress.
The House Ways and Means Committee approved legislation that would restore the gambling loss tax deduction to 100% after Congress last year reduced it to 90%. The gambling provision is included in H.R. 10357, the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act.
Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada, who introduced a bill in 2025 to reverse the change, called on House leadership to bring the legislation to the floor.
“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. “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.”
Gambling tax fix would be retroactive
The provision would repeal the 90% cap for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2025, allowing gamblers to deduct losses up to the amount of their winnings for the 2026 tax year.
The change is estimated to reduce federal revenue by $2 billion from 2027 through 2036, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
The committee’s action marks the latest attempt by lawmakers to reverse the gambling tax change enacted last year. Titus introduced the FAIR BET Act in July 2025, while Reps. Steven Horsford and Max Miller introduced the bipartisan FULL HOUSE Act in January with the same goal of restoring the full deduction.
Bill heads toward House vote
The gambling provision advanced as part of H.R. 10357 rather than as a standalone bill. The broader Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act primarily addresses federal tax treatment of digital assets.
Committee passage moves the legislation closer to consideration by the full House, but the gambling tax change still requires approval from both chambers before becoming law.
“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,” Titus said.
