Macau’s gaming tax revenue goes up in 2019

Taxes collected from gaming were nearly 86% of the total collection by the government.

Macau.- During the first two months of 2019, Macau gaming tax revenue has reached €2.1 billion, the authorities report. According to data released by the Financial Services Bureau, money paid by the industry has gone up by 4.8% this year, when compared with 2018’s €2.05 billion.

Tax revenues on the gaming segment are comprised of levies on traditional Chinese lotteries’ income, racing, instant lotteries and tax on commissions that promoters of gambling junkets earn. As reported by the government agency, all that contributed to revenue collected that was nearly 85.7% of the complete tax collection in Macau, €2.5 billion.

Furthermore, the Bureau explained that gross gaming revenue (GGR) from casinos is taxed at a rate of 35%, but other levies on the segment climb up to 39%.

For this year, the government estimates that €10.75 will be collected in taxation from gaming.

Earlier this year, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau from Macau revealed gambling revenue in the territory increased by 14% in 2018, which marks the second consecutive year of gain.

The bureau showed that December was the 19th straight month where revenue in the gambling hub increased when compared to the same month a year before. While estimations from analysts polled by Reuters earlier in December showed that there would be a 10 to 15% increase, revenue increased 16.6% to €2.8 billion, reaching the €32.9 billion figure for the full year.