GGRAsia – Macau govt collected US$287mln from Oct gaming tax

Macau govt collected US$287mln from Oct gaming tax

Nov 18, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

The Macau government collected just above MOP2.30 billion (US$287.2 million) in tax revenue from the gaming industry in October this year, up 29.9 percent from MOP1.77 billion collected in September, according to the latest information announced by the city’s Financial Services Bureau.

Macau casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) fell by 25.8 percent sequentially in October, to nearly MOP4.37 billion, compared to MOP5.88 billion in September. In early October, a Covid-19 alert in Macau resulted in a sharp dip in tourism to the city.

But Macau’s 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.

For the first 10 months of this year, the Macau government has collected approximately MOP29.54 billion in gaming tax, representing an increase of 21.3 percent when compared with the same period last year.

With October’s gaming tax take, the Macau government achieved 59.1 percent of the MOP50.01-billion that it had estimated to achieve for full-year 2021, according to its current budget plan.

The government taxes the GGR of Macau casinos at a rate of 35 percent, but other levies on the casino gaming gross, raise the tax rate to 39 percent in effect.

Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, has admitted that the government would adjust its full-year forecast for casino GGR, which could be included in a revised budget plan to be submitted to the Legislative Assembly within this year.

The Macau government was originally forecasting 2021 casino GGR of MOP130 billion. That was prior to Macau’s reports of local Covid-19 Delta variant infection cases in August and October, which subsequently affected the city’s casino revenue. Aggregate casino GGR in the first 10 months of 2021 stood at nearly MOP72.15 billion, up 57.3 percent on the prior-year period.

Earlier this month, the government said it estimated the city’s 2022 casino GGR will be MOP130 billion, under half the MOP292.5 billion Macau achieved in full-year 2019, prior to the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic.