Macau Reports 73.6% Drop in Gaming Taxes for 2020

The Macau government collected nearly MOP29.81 billion (US$3.73 billion) in tax revenue from the city’s gaming industry in full-year 2020. That figure was down 73.6% compared to 2019.

The last two months of 2020 were among the best in terms of gaming tax, since January that year, before the full effects of the Covid-19 pandemic were felt on the local industry, according to the latest data published by the city’s Financial Services Bureau.

The government taxes the gross gaming revenue (GGR) of Macau casinos at a rate of 35%, but other levies on casino gaming gross raise the tax rate to 39% in effect. Other taxes on the Macau gambling sector include levies on the income of Chinese traditional lotteries, horse racing, and instant lotteries. There is also tax on commissions earned by operators of gambling junkets.

Aggregate Macau casino GGR in 2020 stood at MOP60.44 billion, a contraction of 79.3% year-on-year.

The Macau government expected to collect nearly MOP29.46 billion in taxes from the city’s gaming industry in 2020, according to a second revision to the fiscal year 2020 budget plan, approved in December.