AGA backs bill meant to restore 100% deduction on gambling losses

• President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill has elicited a strong and timely response from the gambling industry and lawmakers
• The argument is that gamblers should have the right to deduct 100% of their losses from their gaming win-loss ratio and the resulting tax
• Rep Dina Titus argues that this is harmful to the gambling industry in Nevada, and is seeking to overturn this

As debate over the "Big Beautiful Bill" rages on, some lawmakers and trade groups have gone on the offensive, trying to cancel out some of its worst (un)intended consequences.

President Donald Trump’s sweeping bill, dubbed the "Big Beautiful Bill," might be able to do some good, but when it comes to certain areas, it threatens to send entire industries into a tailspin.

This is precisely why US Rep Dina Titus, a Democrat from Nevada, and a co-chair of the Congressional Gaming Caucus, has filed a bill of her own – the Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation, or FAIR BET Act.

FAIR BET Act wants tax law to reflect objective realities

The issue has to do with President Trump’s tax, which seeks to allow certain gambling losses to be deducted up to a point. For sports gamblers and poker players, that is up to 90% of their losses. To illustrate what this would mean, imagine you won $200,000 and lost $100,000 on the full year.

You are now down $100,000, and normally, you do not pay taxes on your losses, but under President Trump’s new law, you would still owe tax on 10% of the sum, i.e. however tax there is to pay on the $10,000 you lost but cannot deduct.

This is precisely what the FAIR BET Act is trying to change, with the legislation already drawing approval and backing from industry types as well as the United States’ largest gaming trade group – the American Gaming Association.

In a statement, AGA said: "The American Gaming Association applauds Congresswoman Titus for introducing the FAIR BET Act. We are committed to working with Congresswoman Titus, other congressional leaders, and the Trump Administration to restore the long-standing tax treatment of gaming losses."

This sentiment was echoed by Casino Guru's Head of Casino Research, Matej Novota, who pitched in: "This kind of law is counterproductive. Reducing deductions for legal gambling losses only encourages players to seek alternatives where no such rules apply—the unlicensed black market."

While the AGA has generally been in favor of reforming the tax code so that it allows gamblers to better reflect their gambling wins and losses on their tax return forms, the association has never advocated for removing the loss deduction.

The AGA thanked Rep Titus for her leadership in the matter and reminded lawmakers that the organization’s members contributed billions of dollars in tax revenue to states and the federal government.

Not just professional gamblers affected – ordinary folk to suffer as well

However, the association has also pitched other ideas, such as increasing the slot tax-reporting threshold, making it easier for players to play without the need to report minuscule amounts that only bog down players and casinos in red tape and accountancy nightmares.

The AGA has similarly advertised for a repeal of the sports betting excise tax, while retaining the current corporate tax.

For her part, Rep Titus is worried that forcing players to lose even more money in tax on their gambling losses would result in one thing: drive people towards unregulated markets. It is not just professional poker players and avid sports bettors who would suffer, though – players who visit Las Vegas and play the slots would then be served with out-of-the-blue tax bills as well.

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