Tax revenue earned from gambling activities in Macao reached 7.62 billion patacas (US$952 million) in September, up by over 6 percent month-on-month, and by nearly 14 percent when compared with the same month in 2023.
The figures from the Financial Services Bureau bring the nine-month total for the year up to 66.4 billion patacas (US$8.29 billion) – a rise of over 45 percent in gaming tax revenue when compared to the same period of 2023.
The haul exceeds the 65.3 billion patacas (US$8.10 billion) earned over the whole of 2023 and amounts to almost 80 percent of the government’s full-year estimate of 83.6 billion patacas (US$10.4 billion).
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Total government revenue for the first nine months of the year stood at 79.9 billion patacas (US$9.98 billion), or nearly 79 percent of the government’s full-year estimate of 102.3 billion patacas (US$12.7 billion), Inside Asian Gaming reports.
Last month also saw the SAR’s casinos generate 17.3 billion patacas (US$2.2 billion) in gross gaming revenue (GGR), bringing accumulated GGR up to 169.4 billion patacas (US$21.1 billion) for the year.
Gaming taxes made up more than 83 percent of the government’s total revenue between January and September this year. In Macao, gaming operators face an effective tax rate of about 40 percent.