Macau, China, 22 Nov – The government said Monday it expects to collect 85 billion patacas (US$ 10.625 billion) in direct gaming taxes next year, based on an estimation of gross casino gaming revenue standing on average at 20 billion patacas a month – or 240 billion patacas (US$30 billion) in 2012, The Macau Post Daily reports today.
Macau’s casinos pay 35 percent of their gross receipts as direct tax to the government.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen made the evaluation during Monday’s plenary meeting of the Legislative Assembly (AL).
He attended the plenum to present lawmakers with the government’s 2012 budget bill.
During the meeting, Tam said that there had been an increase in the government’s expected revenue for next year for the simple reason that its expected income from the direct gaming tax was expected to hit 85 billion patacas.
In 2010, the government collected 65 billion patacas in direct gaming taxes, accounting for 81.6 percent of its total revenue in that year. In the first 10 months of this year, the government logged 76.3 billion patacas in direct gaming taxes, up 46.6 percent from the same period of last year. Gaming taxes generated 84 percent of the government’s total revenue between January and October this year.
Tam said that the government’s income from direct gaming taxes this year would be about 92 billion patacas.
Based on Tam’s forecast for this year and his 2012 estimate, the government’s income from direct gaming taxes next year would drop 7.6 percent year-on-year.
“Based on a calculation of gross casino gaming gross revenue standing at 22 billion patacas on average a month from January to October this year, the gaming tax for this year is expected to hit 92 billion patacas,” Tam said, adding that “Based on an estimation of gross gaming standing at a monthly average of 20 billion patacas in 2012, the gaming tax is expected to reach 85 billion patacas.”
The policy secretary that the government was “pragmatic” in forecasting the total gaming tax revenue for next year, based on the estimation of gross casino receipts standing at an average of 20 billion patacas a month in 2012.
“The government has been quite cautious in estimating the gaming tax of 85 billion patacas for next year,” Tam said.(MacauNews/Politics)
