Macau govt beats gaming tax revenue target

Dec 29, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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The Macau government has surpassed the revenue target on gaming tax collection set for 2016, show data disclosed on Wednesday by the city’s Financial Services Bureau.

The city collected MOP72.76 billion (US$9.11 billion) in fiscal revenues from direct taxes on gaming between January and November, down 7.4 percent from the prior-year period. The revenue collected on gaming in the first 11 months of 2016 is however higher than the government’s MOP71.78-billion estimate for the full year.

Direct taxes from gaming brought in approximately 78 percent of the Macau government’s total revenue in the first 11 months of 2016. The Macau government fiscal surplus for the January-November period was down by 26.8 percent year-on-year to MOP29.68 billion.

Macau levies an effective tax rate of 39 percent on casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) – 35 percent in direct government tax, and the remainder in a number of levies to pay for a range of community good causes.

Macau’s casino GGR rose 14.4 percent year-on-year in November, to MOP18.79 billion, according to official data. The result marked the fourth time in 30 months that monthly revenue had not contracted, judged year-on-year.

Macau’s accumulated casino GGR for the 11 months to November 30 stood at nearly MOP203.40 billion, a year-on-year decline of 4.3 percent from the equivalent period in 2015. That is however higher than the government’s forecast of MOP200 billion for the full year of 2016.

In November, Macau’s Chief Executive, Chui Sai On, forecast Macau’s 2017 casino GGR would total MOP200 billion. In a December 15 report, banking group Morgan Stanley said it was raising its estimate for Macau’s 2017 casino GGR growth from 2 percent year-on-year to 10 percent.

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