Nevada Rep. Dina Titus sent a letter Thursday to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise asking them to include a restoration of the 100% gambling loss deduction in must-pass legislation.
President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act capped the gambling loss deduction at 90%, down from 100%, starting with the 2026 tax year. With the House reconvening next week, Titus wants a fix to be a top priority.
“As Congress returns from recess and turns to end-of-year legislation, I respectfully urge Leadership to expeditiously bring a gambling loss deduction fix to the House floor and include it in a must-pass legislative vehicle,” Titus wrote.
Titus introduced the Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation, or FAIR BET Act, three days after Trump signed the bill into law in July 2025.
A fix to the gambling loss deduction was included in Section 701 of the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, HR 10357, which passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee by a 38-5 vote on Sept. 16. Titus wrote that the bipartisan vote shows support across party lines and gives leadership a strong basis for bringing the provision to the House floor.
Protecting regulated industry
Titus argued that while the change appears minor, it will have a significant impact on the regulated industry. A bettor that reports $100,000 in gambling losses would have to pay taxes on $10,000 of income.
“It unfairly burdens professional gamblers and casual players alike and will inevitably drive players toward offshore and unregulated markets where consumer protections are nonexistent, thereby undermining responsible gaming efforts nationwide,” she wrote. “This will further reduce tax revenue and stifle investment by the industry here at home, costing jobs and impacting ancillary businesses.”
Restoring the deduction to 100% simply returns the tax code to the previous law.
Titus noted that the vote has bicameral and bipartisan support, and also has the backing of the regulated industry, including the American Gaming Association, MGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars and Wynn.
What needs to happen for the fix to pass
Clearing Ways and Means was only the first step. The provision still needs to pass the full House and the Senate before it can reach Trump’s desk.
In the House, leadership would have to bring HR 10357 to the floor or move Section 701 into another bill. That is what Titus is asking Johnson and Scalise to do, with the fix attached to a must-pass package as Congress wraps up the year. The House returns from recess on Nov. 9.
The Senate has its own version. Sens. Ted Cruz, Catherine Cortez Masto, Bill Hagerty and Jacky Rosen introduced the FULL HOUSE Act there, but it has yet to move.
Timing is the biggest hurdle. The 90% cap already applies to the 2026 tax year, but the committee’s language would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026. If Congress does not act before the end of the year, gamblers could be filing their 2026 returns under the reduced deduction.
