The results of the first 11 months of this fiscal year are announced, and the Macau government gathered MOP59.07 billion, or US$7.38 billion, in fiscal revenue, according to the Financial Services Bureau.
Great year for Macau:
The money is collected from taxes the operators paid, and it seems the city had a great year. Compared to the prior year, when the measures, especially travel restrictions, to prevent the spreading of the COVID-19 haven’t been lifted yet, the increase is up to 230.3%.
However, November this year was extremely profitable even compared to the previous month. Only in November did the government gain about MOP7.52 billion in revenue. The revenue is collected from gaming taxes, and the outcome is great: the city earned 30.1% more than in October.
This is an outcome of the decision the government established earlier, with the beginning on January 1st, 2023. Under the new regulations that are a part of the 10-year gaming concession system, all operators will have to pay taxes on the casino’s gross gaming revenue (GGR), which is worth 40% of the total revenue.
When it comes to gross gaming revenue, the city has a good year as well. From January to November, the GGR was MOP164.49 billion, which is a 324.9% increase compared to the same period last year.
According to the GGRAsia, we’re not able to compare the GGR and gaming tax revenue, and there are several reasons for that. One of the main reasons is the difference in the timeframe between these two actions since the GGR information is collected and registered before the tax information is registered.
Surpassed expectations:
The city government worked hard on the annual budget plan, and the expectations were high. The government estimated that the gaming tax revenue would be at least MOP50.85 billion, but the earnings are already higher, and the year hasn’t ended yet. Only in the first 11 months did the government surpass expectations and earn 16.2% more than the expected gaming tax revenue for the whole year.
Macau’s gaming industry is on its way to completely recover from the COVID-19 pandemic losses after the measures were lifted and the tourists, especially those from mainland China and Hong Kong, started gambling in the city once again. Wang Changbin, the director of the Center for Gaming and Tourism Studies at Macao Polytechnic University, back in November said that he was satisfied with the speed the city is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic impact.