The government for Macau has reportedly announced that the amount of tax it collected directly from gaming operations over the first two months of 2019 increased by almost 4.8% year-on-year to reach in excess of $2.42 billion.

Indicative importance:

According to a report from GGRAsia citing official data from the enclave’s Financial Services Bureau, the substantial amount gathered for the 59-day period moreover accounted for some 85.7% of the just over $2.83 billion in overall taxes officials managed to amass in January and February.

Fitting tax rates:

Macau is home to some of the world’s largest and most famous gambling venues including the iconic Casino Grand Lisboa from SJM Holdings Limited and Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited’s $3.2 billion Studio City Macau. All of these operations are required to pay a 35% gross gaming revenues tax alongside smaller duties for every live dealer table, gaming machine and VIP room they operate that takes the effective rate up to around 39%.

Continued success:

Macau collected some $2.31 billion in taxes from gambling in January and February of 2018 while the most recent figure comes after the city recorded a 13.6% year-on-year swell in such duties for the entirety of last year to almost $13.21 billion.

Growing surplus:

The government of Macau ended 2018 with a budget surplus of approximately $6.66 billion and had earlier conservatively predicted that it would collect around $12.14 billion in taxes from gaming operations for the entirety of this year. If true, this latter figure would lead to a further surplus of around $2.23 billion although experts purportedly expect this annual amount to be surpassed as the city’s January and February results have already seen this excess tally exceed $2.07 billion.