Nevada Congresswoman Renews Push To Eliminate Gambling Tax

Naturally, being from Nevada, Congresswoman Dana Titus is a champion for the gambling industry. She believes that the US Federal Government wronged the gambling community with the recent passage of the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, and she won’t give up the fight to right what Titus is convinced is a significant wrong.

The Big Beautiful Bill included a clause that reduced the allowable deduction on gambling losses from 100% down to 90%. Titus has twice introduced the Fair Bet Act, which would restore the 100% tax deduction on gambling losses. Both times, the bill failed to gain any traction.

Undaunted, Titus is back to fight once more for the country’s bettors. She has written to the House Ways and Means Committee, requesting that Chair Jason Smith and Ranking Member Richard Neal work to restore this tax break.

“For decades, the tax code permitted taxpayers to deduct up to 100 percent of their gambling losses from their winnings – a clear and fair standard that accurately reflected net income,” Titus wrote to the committee. She posted a copy of the letter on the social media platform X.

“A provision added to the Senate-amended One Big Beautiful Bill Act, however, reduced this deduction to 90 percent.”

Here’s why the change is bad for gamblers. Suppose you won $10,000 gambling in a year, but also lost $10,000. In the past, the 100 percent deduction would allow you to break even. However, with only a 90 percent deduction, you will still pay taxes on $1,000 of those $10,000 in winnings, even though you actually didn’t come out ahead. So you end up losing money, not breaking even.

This tax burden could drive players to gamble on the unregulated market

Titus believes that if gamblers are forced to shoulder an unfair tax burden, it will drive them to place wagers with unregulated offshore sports betting sites. It could also harm proactive efforts taking place around the country to place more emphasis on providing help to problem gamblers.

“While this change may appear minor, it will have significant and harmful consequences,” Titus said. “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.

“This will further reduce tax revenue and stifle investment by the industry here at home, costing jobs and impacting ancillary businesses.”

Titus sees the solution as a simple fix

What Titus is finding most frustrating about this change in the gambling tax laws is that she believes the fix is an easily achievable step, yet no one in Congress appears to be listening to her solution.

“Restoring the longstanding 100 percent deduction for gambling losses would simply return the law to its prior, well-understood standard without expanding or rewriting any other part of the tax code,” Titus said.

“Implementing this simple fix has broad bipartisan and bicameral support, reflecting consensus across the political spectrum among Members of Congress representing both established and emerging gaming markets.”

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