An attempt to add the FAIR BET Act to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was thwarted by the House Rules Committee on Tuesday. The FAIR BET Act seeks to restore the full gambling loss deduction, which was altered in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBA) passed in July.
Key Insights
- The FAIR BET Act would restore the gambling loss deduction to 100% from the 90% limit
- The FAIR BET’s sponsor, Representative Dina Titus hoped to tack the FAIR BET Act on to the NDAA
- The FAIR BET Act is still in the House Ways and Means Committee awaiting further action
The FAIR BET Act’s sponsor, Nevada Rep. Dina Titus (D) was disappointed by the bill’s exclusion from the military spending bill. But with thousands of amendments vying for inclusion into “must pass” legislation, the rejection probably had more to do with timing and political influence than on the merits of the bill.
Background
President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law in July. Buried in the 900+ page bill was a provision reducing the allowable deduction for gambling losses to 90% from its 70-year level of 100%. The change now requires bettors to pay taxes on more money than they have, in fact, won.
The new deduction limit comes at an especially bad time for Las Vegas. Tourism has been dropping due to economic and political uncertainty. As a result, Nevada Rep. Dina Titus quickly introduced the Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation (FAIR BET) Act to restore the full gambling loss deduction.
To speed things along, Titus tried to get the FAIR BET Act added to the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the “must pass” defense spending bill before Congress. Her attempt, however, never made it by the House Rules Committee.
Wounded, but not dead yet
Titus was obviously disappointed by the setback. On social media, she blamed party politics.
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.
— Dina Titus (@repdinatitus) September 9, 2025
And while this didn’t start out to be a political issue, it may end up as collateral damage. The vast majority of Republicans were as surprised as Democrats by the reduction of the gambling loss deduction included as part of the OBBA. But now that it’s law, it may be hard to overturn.
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the lower gambling loss cap could generate $1.1 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years. Meanwhile, Republicans are doing what they can to preserve all the many tax breaks promised by the president.
There is still hope, however, that the full gambling loss deduction will be restored. The FAIR BET Act is still alive. It resides in the House Ways and Means Committee, where Committee Chair Jason Smith (R) appears to be an ally.
“For those of you concerned about this change, members on both sides of the aisle have heard you and many members on both sides of the aisle are working to address it before it goes into effect on Jan. 1,” Smith said.
