Rep. Dina Titus is again pressing House Republican leaders to restore the full gambling loss deduction by Dec. 31, before bettors prepare to file their 2026 returns and before seven of her bill’s 25 cosponsors leave the House.
- Six of the FAIR Bet Act’s 11 Republican cosponsors are set to leave the House, though Andy Barr won a Senate seat.
- Titus wants the fix in must-pass legislation. A separate tax package containing a retroactive repeal cleared committee 38-5 and still awaits a floor vote.
- The 90% cap already applies to 2026 returns and can leave bettors with taxable gambling income even when they break even.
The Nevada Democrat asked Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise in a Nov. 5 letter to attach the fix to must-pass legislation. A retroactive repeal would let eligible taxpayers deduct 100% of their gambling losses up to the amount they won. The 90% cap, enacted as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025, already applies to the 2026 tax year.
Titus wrote that the deduction could push professional and casual gamblers toward offshore and unregulated markets, reducing tax revenue and hurting regulated gaming businesses.
“Enactment of this bipartisan provision would correct an unfair change in the tax code and provide needed certainty to taxpayers, businesses, and regulated gaming markets across the country,” Titus wrote in an open letter to Republican House leadership.
Midterms put FAIR Bet Act's GOP support in flux
Titus and fellow Democratic cosponsor Ro Khanna of California and Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford all won reelection as their party is set to take sizeable majorities in both House and Senate beginning with the 2027 congressional term.
Three Republican cosponsors lost their House races last week; California’s David Valadao, Ohio’s Max Miller, and New Jersey’s Jeff Van Drew, whose district includes Atlantic City. Fellow Republicans Troy Nehls of Texas and Mark Amodei of Nevada opted to retire.
Republican Andy Barr won election to the U.S. Senate in Kentucky. Michigan Democrat Haley Stevens, another cosponsor, lost her Senate primary. Overall, six of the FAIR Bet Act’s 11 Republican cosponsors are set to leave the House, leaving five of its current GOP backers in the chamber next year, though Barr could give the effort an ally in the Senate.
Miller’s departure also affects a parallel repeal effort that has advanced further than Titus’ bill.
He and Horsford introduced the FULL HOUSE Act, which included tax deduction cap repeal language attached to the broader Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act. The House Ways and Means Committee voted 38-5 on Sept. 16 to advance that tax package, which includes a repeal retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026, for calendar-year taxpayers.
That bill has not received a vote since.
The fix needs approval from both chambers and the President’s signature, whether it moves in the broader tax bill or another package. President Donald Trump signed the original bill with the tax deduction cap into law, and it’s unclear if he would approve the change.
The departing members can still vote during the lame-duck session. If the measure carries over as an issue into next year, supporters would have to introduce legislation in the new Congress.
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What a year-end fix would mean for bettors
Dec. 31 marks the end of the first calendar tax year under the cap. Congress could still pass a retroactive fix after that date, but a year-end deal would give bettors more certainty before they file their 2026 returns in 2027.
A bettor who wins $10,000 and loses $10,000, for example, can deduct only $9,000 under the current cap, leaving $1,000 in taxable gambling income despite breaking even. With the full deduction restored for 2026, a taxpayer eligible to deduct those losses could offset all $10,000 in winnings.
The American Gaming Association and major casino operators have backed restoring the deduction, arguing the cap could make legal gambling less attractive. At the Global Gaming Expo in October, Horsford said the effects could extend to dealers, hospitality workers, and other employees whose jobs depend on casino traffic.
“No one should pay taxes on money they never earned,” Horsford said after the September vote.
