GGRAsia – Macau eyes 233pct jump in 2025 junket commission tax take

Macau eyes 233pct jump in 2025 junket commission tax take

Dec 19, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

The Macau government estimates that in 2025 it will collect MOP100 million (US$12.5 million) in taxes on commissions that are paid by casinos to junkets, a 233.3-percent increase from the MOP30-million take in such taxation the government expects it will receive for fiscal-year 2024.

The information was disclosed in an opinion report on Macau’s financial-year 2025 budget plan published by the city’s Legislative Assembly. The opinion report has cited the Macau government explanation on their estimated income and public expenditure items for the coming year.

The report however does not include any justification for the government’s expected increase in taxes on junket commissions for the coming fiscal year.

In 2023, the Macau government collected MOP62.58 million in taxes on commissions paid by casinos to junkets, nearly 526-percent higher than its estimated MOP10 million in such taxation for that fiscal year, according to the city’s 2023 budget execution report submitted to the assembly.

Junkets – also known as gaming promoters – are licensed by the Macau government to promote VIP gaming in the city’s casinos.

A withholding tax of 5 percent is levied on commissions paid by gaming operators to junkets; but the withholding tax is not levied on the gross value. In Macau, junket operators are offered incentives to bring players to casinos by a commission on rolling chip turnover, which is capped at 1.25 percent.

Under Macau’s new law regulating the issuance of credit for casino gambling – in effect since August 1 – junkets are not themselves allowed to issue credit to any gamblers. Gaming concessionaires are the only entities permitted to provide gambling credit to patrons in the Macau market.

As of September 23, there were 24 licensed junkets in Macau, according to the latest available information from the city’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

For 2025, the Macau government has maintained the cap on the number of licensed junkets at 50, with the caps on junket-partner numbers applied to each of the six Macau casino operators kept as in 2024. For this year and next, Sands China Ltd and SJM Holdings Ltd have the largest allowance: 12 junkets each.

In the 2025 budget plan – which passed the final reading by the Legislative Assembly on Monday – the Macau government estimates the city’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) to reach MOP240 billion, driven by a recovery in tourism and leisure businesses.

Macau casino GGR for the first 11 months this year stood at MOP208.58 billion, up 26.8 percent on the prior-year period. In the budget for the current year, the local government estimated the city’s casino GGR to reach MOP216.0 billion.