Adam Roarty is a journalist covering sports betting, regulation, and industry innovation for CasinoBeats. His coverage includes tax increases in the UK, covering breaking stories in the ever-evolving landscape of US betting such as the...
Read Full BioRep. Dina Titus has continued her push to restore the ability of gamblers to offset losses by adding the FAIR BET Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Titus, who already introduced the FAIR BET Act as a standalone bill in the House, is hoping that adding it as an amendment will give a better chance of passing among Republicans.
The change, passed as an amendment to Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, means gamblers can only deduct 90% of losses from winnings before paying tax
The Nevada Congresswoman posted on X: “I strongly encourage the Republicans to make this amendment in order when it goes before the House Rules Committee upon our return to Congress next month.”
Lawmakers Unaware of Amendment Adding Gambling Tax Change
The tax change was passed as part of Trump’s BBB without the knowledge of many Senators.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas admitted: “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not sure what it does.”
Similarly, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa revealed in an interview: “If you’re asking me how it got in there, no, I don’t know.”
Sen. Thom Tillis called the gambling tax “bad policy,” but stated: “I was so focused on Medicaid, I wasn’t looking for other reasons to be against the bill.”
The Big Beautiful Bill is one of the largest pieces of legislation in US history, at 1,116 pages long.
Titus believes that slipping the reversal of the gambling tax change into a similarly long bill will improve its chances of passing.
What is the National Defense Authorization Act?
The NDAA is similarly long, at over 1,000 pages. It is the principal vehicle through which Congress sets the defense policy and funding parameters, including a $924.7 billion budget and increased funding for Ukraine.
It is in no way related to gambling taxes. Another bill introduced in the Senate, the FULL HOUSE Act, was blocked as Sen. Todd Young attempted to add unrelated amendments.
The Republican Senator wanted to add exceptions for religious college endowments and other tax adjustments that Democrats previously rejected.
Young said on the Senate floor: “I strongly support the underlying bill, but will have to object unless you can agree to my request.”
The loss deduction change is due to come into force next year, but if the NDAA is passed with the amendment repealing it, then it may never be enacted. Its passage may again depend on how aware lawmakers are of the legislation they are voting on.
Kalshi has a market on whether the cap on gambling loss reduction will be repealed this year. Following Titus’ announcement, the chance increased from 29% to 45%, but has fallen slightly to 41% at the time of writing.
