Macau government expects to collect US$12.48m in taxes on junket commissions for 2025
That’s a rise of 233.3 per cent in year-on-year terms.
Macau.- The Macau government expects to collect MOP100m (US$12.48m) in taxes on junket commissions in 2025. That’s a 233.3 per cent rise in year-on-year terms from the MOP30m expected for fiscal year 2024.
The forecast comes from a report on Macau’s financial year 2025 budget released by the city’s Legislative Assembly. No reasoning was given. In 2023, the government collected MOP62.58m, surpassing the estimate for the year by 526 per cent.
Junkets, or gaming promoters, are licensed by the Macau government to promote high-stakes gaming in casinos. A 5 per cent withholding tax is charged on commissions. Junket operators earn a commission of up to 1.25 per cent on the money players put into casinos.
In August, a bill on casino credit and junket contracts entered force, prohibiting junkets from issuing credit to gamblers entered force. As of September 23, there are 24 licensed junkets in Macau, according to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. For 2025, the government will keep the cap at 50, with the same limits on junket partners for each casino operator as in 2024. Sands China and SJM Holdings will each have the largest allowance, with 12 junkets allowed.
The 2025 budget plan, which the Legislative Assembly approved on Monday (December 16), estimates that Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) will reach MOP240bn (US$29.7bn). Macau’s GGR for the first eleven months of 2024 was MOP208.6bn (US$26.1bn), up 26.8 per cent year-on-year but 22.6 per cent below the same period in 2019.
