Macau: gaming taxes down 47.9%
Gaming taxes reached MOP20.53 billion (US$2.57billion) in the first four months of the year.
Macau.-Gaming taxes reached MOP20.53 billion (US$2.57billion) in the first four months of the year, representing a 47.9 per cent decrease on the same period last year.
Macau casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) has been in freefall since the Covid-19 outbreak. Last month, it fell 96.8 per cent YoY as the city starts to recover from the pandemic.
According to figures published by the Financial Services Bureau, the government collected MOP2.04 billion (US$255million) in tax from casinos in March.
The government taxes casino GGR at a rate of 35 per cent, but other levies raise the tax rate to 39 per cent.
Other taxes on the Macau gambling sector include levies on the income of Chinese traditional lotteries, on horse racing, instant lotteries and tax on commissions earned by operators of gambling junkets.
The Macau government is now expecting a deficit of MOP38.95 billion (US$4.8billion) for full-year 2020, due to measures to support the economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a revised budget for 2020, the government has forecast it will collect MOP4.16 billion in gaming tax on a monthly basis for the rest of the year leading to a total of MOP49.98 billion (US$6.2 billion) for FY20.
