The Macau government collected MOP60.56 billion (US$7.53 billion) in direct taxes from gaming in the first eight months of 2017, up by 17.2 percent year-on-year, according to data released in late September by the city’s Financial Services Bureau.
Direct taxes on gaming accounted for 82.13 percent of the government’s total revenue in the eight months to August 31, which stood at MOP73.74 billion.
The government surplus for the period – the amount by which revenue exceeded spending – rose 63.5 percent year-on-year, to MOP29.39 billion.
Data from the Macau’s gaming regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, showed that the city’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the first eight months of the year was MOP172.02 billion, an increase of 19.1 percent compared to the prior-year period.
Macau levies an effective tax rate of 39 percent on casino GGR – 35 percent in direct government tax, and the remainder in a number of levies to pay for a range of community good causes.
In its annual budget, the government forecast that it would collect MOP71.86 billion in direct taxes from gaming in 2017. With four months to go in 2017, the execution rate stands at 84.3 percent, according to the latest data from the finance bureau. The Macau government is known for being conservative when estimating the gaming-related tax revenue in its yearly budgets.
