The Macau government collected MOP59.07 billion (US$7.38 billion) in fiscal revenue from taxes on gaming in the first 11 months of this year, according to the latest data released by the city’s Financial Services Bureau.
The aggregate take for January to November was up 230.3 percent compared with the prior-year period, a time when Covid-19 -associated travel restrictions were still in place.
In November alone this year, the government collected approximately MOP7.52 billion in revenue from gaming taxes, up 30.1 percent month-on-month from the October gain via gaming tax.
Under Macau’s 10-year gaming concession system that came into effect on January 1, the effective tax on casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) is 40 percent.
Macau’s casino GGR for the 11 months to November 30 reached MOP164.49 billion, up 324.9 percent from the comparable 2022 period.
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.
In line with the government’s 2023 budget plan, gaming tax revenue was anticipated to reach MOP50.85 billion this year. Surpassing the forecast, the government achieved already in the initial 11 months of the current year a 16.2-percent surplus in gaming tax revenue budgeted for the full year.
