Gambling loss calculator for 2026

How the 2026 rule works

Two limits apply, in this order. First, only 90% of your losses count. Then what is left can’t exceed your winnings. As a formula: deductible = min(0.90 × losses, winnings).

Win $100,000 and lose $100,000 in 2026, and you can deduct $90,000. The other $10,000 is taxed as income in a year you made nothing. Before 2026 the same year came out at zero. The rule comes from the 2025 tax law (Public Law 119-21, section 70114), and our post on the statute covers the text and the push to repeal it.

Why the standard deduction matters more than the 90%

Gambling losses are an itemized deduction. To claim them you give up the standard deduction ($16,100 for a single filer in 2026). So a break-even gambler who itemizes only for the losses ends up with more taxable income than someone who never gambled, even under the old rules. That is the “added to your taxable income” row above, and it is usually the bigger number.

If you take the standard deduction, your losses reduce nothing and every dollar of winnings is taxed.

What this calculator leaves out

• The extra standard deduction for being 65 or older or blind, and the separate senior deduction.
• Your state. Some states tax gambling winnings with no deduction for losses at all.
• Knock-on effects of higher income, such as credits that phase out. The tax figure is one bracket rate, a rough guide.

Trade on Kalshi or Polymarket?

Gambling is only one of four ways people report prediction-market trades, and often the most expensive one. Capital gains treatment has no 90% rule and lets a net loss offset up to $3,000 of other income a year. See all four methods, or run your own Kalshi export or Polymarket wallet through WagerMints to price your year each way, free.