the government collected $6.4 billion in tax revenues in the first 10 months of 2023
On November 16, 2023, Macau’s Financial Services Bureau published a report on the financial impact of the casino gaming industry in Macau. According to the organization, the Macau government collected nearly US$6.42 billion in gaming-related tax revenues from January to October 2023, claims our fellow GGRAsia.
Macau casinos: tax revenues 215.7% higher than in 2022
According to GGRAsiatax revenues generated by Macau’s casinos in the first ten months of the current year reached a level of 215.7% higher than during the same period in 2022.
It should be remembered that in 2022, travel restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic had severely affected the gambling industry in the former Portuguese enclave. In its report, Macau’s Financial Services Bureau notes that the return to growth coincided with the opening, on January 08 2023, of gaming establishments after a prolonged period of closure.
The market has made huge strides to recover since then, and the rapid growth is reflected in both gross gaming revenues and tax receipts, bringing long-awaited relief to stakeholders. Nevertheless, the recovery sometimes resembles a winding road: monthly figures, for example, show a certain fluctuation depending on the seasons of customer arrivals from overseas or mainland China. In October 2023, for example, the Macau government collected just over US$720 million in gaming-related tax revenues, down 13.1% on the previous month.
The best performance of 2023 was signed in August
In September, gross gaming revenue in Macau followed a similar trend to October, with both months recording a 13.2% year-on-year decline. By way of comparison, the peninsula’s casinos generated around US$1.86 billion in September, compared with US$2.14 billion in August, which is only the highest monthly level of the yearaccording to GGRAsia.
The same source reports that gross gaming revenues for the first ten months (January 1 to October 31, 2023) reached US$18.48 billion; these are therefore three times higher than the same period in 2022! As a result tax revenues have already reached 101.4% of the amount forecast by the Macao government for the whole of 2023 ($6.33 billion).
The tax revenue result achieved in the first ten months was also boosted by the gaming tax introduced under a new concession system valid for 10 years. The new regulations, which came into force on January 1, 2023, impose a 40% tax on gross gaming revenues.
