The National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced July 8 its support for the bipartisan Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation Act.
The FAIR BET Act, introduced by Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), seeks to restore the 100% deduction for gambling losses. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, just recently signed into law, amended the deduction so that gamblers could only deduct 90% of their losses, instead of 100%. The new bipartisan legislation is co-sponsored by Reps. Troy Nehls (R-TX), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Steven Horsford (D-NV), and Mark Amodei (R-NV), as of July 8.
"The NTRA commends Congresswoman Titus for introducing the FAIR BET Act, which will restore the 100% tax deduction for gaming losses," said NTRA president and CEO Tom Rooney. "There is no Thoroughbred racing without horseplayers. The changes to the tax deduction are detrimental to them and must be fixed. We're glad that swift bipartisan action is being taken. Along with Congresswoman Titus, the NTRA will continue to work alongside the Trump administration and leaders in the House and Senate to restore the tax deduction."
The Congresswoman has led the charge on rectifying this change to the tax code, which is set to take effect next year.
"My FAIR BET Act would rightfully restore the full deduction for losses so gamblers don't pay taxes on money they haven't won," Congresswoman Titus said. "This common-sense legislation will bring fairness back to gaming taxation, making sure that gamblers can fully deduct losses when they report their winnings. It gives everyone from recreational gamblers to high-stakes gamblers a fair shake. We should be encouraging players to properly report their winnings and wager using legal operators. The Senate change will only push people to not report their winnings and to use unregulated platforms."
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Nehls said he “proudly voted” for the Act, but the “Senate’s version contained a provision that I strongly disagree with”— that being the reduction of the allowable deduction to 90%, which he considers to be unfair. Rep. Titus's bill can be found here.
