Summary
- President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" has prompted a significant and prompt reaction from both the gambling industry and lawmakers.
- The argument suggests that gamblers should be permitted to fully deduct their losses from their gambling win-loss ratio for tax purposes.
- Representative Dina Titus contends that this is detrimental to Nevada's gambling industry and is working to reverse it.
As the debate over the Big Beautiful Bill intensifies, some lawmakers and trade groups are actively working to mitigate some of its most significant (un)intended consequences. President Donald Trump's extensive legislation, known as the Big Beautiful Bill, has the potential to be beneficial. However, in certain areas, it poses a risk to disrupting entire industries. This concern is why U.S. Representative Dina Titus, a Democrat from Nevada and co-chair of the Congressional Gaming Caucus, has introduced her own bill—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 revolves around President Trump's tax policy, which aims to permit the deduction of certain gambling losses up to a certain limit. For sports bettors and poker players, this cap is set at 90% of their losses. To explain the implications, consider winning $200,000 while losing $100,000 over the course of the year. With these figures, you're down $100,000. Usually, you wouldn't pay taxes on your losses, but under President Trump's new policy, you'd still owe taxes on 10% of your losses. This means you'll be taxed on the $10,000 of your losses that you cannot deduct. The FAIR BET Act is seeking to change this policy. The legislation has already garnered support from industry stakeholders and the American Gaming Association (AGA), the largest gaming trade group in the United States. In a statement, the 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 longstanding tax treatment of gaming losses. While the AGA generally supports tax code reform to better reflect gamblers' wins and losses on tax forms, it has never pushed for eliminating the loss deduction. The association thanked Representative Titus for her leadership on this issue and reminded lawmakers that its members contribute billions in tax revenue to both state and federal coffers.
Not just professional gamblers affected – ordinary folk to suffer as well
The association has also proposed other ideas, such as raising the threshold for slot tax reporting. This change would simplify the gaming experience by eliminating the need to account for small amounts, thus reducing unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles for both players and casinos. The AGA is also advocating for the elimination of the sports betting excise tax, while keeping the current corporate tax unchanged. Rep. Titus is concerned that increasing taxes on players' gambling losses could push people toward unregulated markets. This shift wouldn't only impact professional poker players and enthusiastic sports bettors but also casual visitors to Las Vegas who might unexpectedly face tax charges after playing slots.
