The gaming tax collected by the Macau SAR Government in 2022 fell to only 55.9% of the sum the authorities predicted would be collected, which is approximately MOP19.1 billion, aka US$2.37 billion.
Macau’s lowest gaming gross revenue ever:
This drop in revenue represents a 43.7% decrease from MOP$33.9 billion, which is roughly 4.20 million US dollars, which is the exact amount of revenue collected in 2021, according to numbers released by the Financial Services Bureau.
The total annual tax profit of MOP$1.23 billion, which is approximately $153 million US dollars, fell by 53.2% on December 2022 which was 21.2% less than in November in the year-end filling.
December’s figure corresponds to Macau’s November gross gaming revenue number of MOP$3.0, which is approximately $374 million US dollars, down 55.6% annually.
Macau’s total gaming tax revenue numbers for 2022 also show just 55.9% of the original budgeted sum, with the government forecasting gaming tax revenue of MOP$34.4 billion, which is roughly 4.27 billion US dollars for the year.
Decrease in income due to the measures of COVID-19:
This annual decrease in revenue is due to Macau’s ongoing struggle against the effects of the COVID-19 outbreaks across mainland China throughout the final months of 2022.
The surprise outbreak has taken a toll on tourism and gaming profits, already classified as an unfortunate results of the pandemic’s surprising resurgence.
However, gaming tax revenue is predicted to rise significantly from February after Macau reopens its borders on January 8, 2023, which was true as Chinese New Year alone brought Macau gaming revenue of 82.5%, aka MOP11.58 billion, which is approximately 1.45 billion US dollars.
But, people were still required to wear masks when attending any public event, according to local health authorities.
In this regard, the head of Macau Tourism, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, said: “Daily visitors to Macau could peak at 60,000 during Chinese New Year, although a number of gaming industry analysts caution that visitor volume by itself, is neither a proxy for, nor an especially accurate predictor of, Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) performance.”
Even with this improvement, unfortunately, GGR is forecast to fall short of 2019 levels.
Previous Macau gaming law:
During the tenure of the previous gaming law, which was replaced by the revised law, gaming taxes in Macau involved a 35% “special gaming tax” strictly payable only to the Macau government, plus 4% other fees, consisting of a levy of 1.6% that finances the Macao Foundation’s cultural, social, economic, educational, scientific, academic and philanthropic activities and a financial contribution of 2.4% (1.4% for SJM) to the urban construction, tourism and social security collection.
However, from January 1, 2023, the 4% of the other fees, rose to 5%, with the tax and financial contribution rising to 2% and 3% for all six concessionaires individually.