GGRAsia – Macau 1H gaming tax revenue hits US$5.6bln

Macau 1H gaming tax revenue hits US$5.6bln

Jul 09, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

The Macau government collected just under MOP44.79 billion (US$5.57 billion) in fiscal revenue from taxes on gaming in the first six months of 2024, according to the latest data released on Monday by the city’s Financial Services Bureau.

So far this year the aggregate take from such tax is up 67.2 percent compared with the prior-year period.

In June alone this year, the government collected approximately MOP7.78 billion in revenue from gaming taxes.

Taxes from gaming brought in 85.5 percent of the Macau government’s total revenue in the first half of 2024, the latter standing at nearly MOP52.41 billion.

Under Macau’s 10-year gaming concession system that came into effect in January last year, the effective tax on casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) is 40 percent.

The tax-take figures in a given calendar period and the city’s casino GGR in such a time frame are not directly comparable for a number of reasons. They include the fact that there is typically a delay between the point where GGR is recorded in Macau casino operations and the point at which tax is registered by the Macau government as having been paid on such play.

According to the government’s 2024 budget plan, revenue from gaming taxes is anticipated to reach nearly MOP83.61 billion this year. The take for the first six months this year represents 53.6 percent of that figure.

In full-year 2023, the Macau authorities collected MOP65.26 billion in revenue from gaming tax, achieving a 28.3-percent surplus in gaming tax revenue budgeted for last year.