In light of the COVID-related restrictions and decrease in traveling, the Macau SAR Government has seen a decrease in tax revenue recently.
Macau Gambling Taxes Halt at $194M in November
Overall, Macau’s six casino concessionaires contributed a total of MOP$1.56 billion ($194 million) in November 2022, a recent report released by IAG reveals. When compared to the same period the year before, this result marked a decrease of more than 10%. Not unexpectedly, the sporadic outbreaks of COVID-19 in China contributed negatively to the result. What’s more, Macau has seen a decrease in visitation, primarily driven due to a decline in traveling which further helped shrink the tax revenue collected.
Uncertainties regarding regulation combined with the residue of the pandemic also impacted Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR). In 2022, the city reported a drop in GGR to MOP$42.2 billion ($5.3 billion), representing a staggering 51.4% decrease when compared to the result from 2021. Furthermore, the GGR result from 2022 was the lowest result for Macau for the last decade.
Focusing on taxes, Macau implemented a change that coincided with the start of 2023. As a result, concessionaires now pay an additional casino floor fee. The new fee is determined based on the size of the casino floor and undergoes indexing depending on the concession year. Those fees apply for the next 10 years of concession and come in addition to the already existing tax of 35% and an additional 5% on GGR for the operators.
The Region Keeps High Hopes for the Future
On the bright side, with the pandemic residing, Macau expects to see an uptick in tourism and visitation. Recently, Macau’s head of the Government Tourism Office, Maria Helene de Senna Fernandes, said that this year, the SAR hopes to see up to 40,000 visitors daily.
Additionally, although the taxes reported in November marked a decline year-over-year, the result increased month over month. When compared to the result from October, taxes in November 2022 increased by nearly 30%.
Eliminating the partial COVID-related restrictions in combination with an increase in traveling will undoubtedly help Macau. At the same time, some licensed gambling operators have confirmed plans to introduce amenities different from gambling that will further help attract new visitors and consequently boost their revenues.