In Macau, government officials have reportedly announced that they expect to collect some $11.28 billion in direct taxes from gaming next year in order to take the city’s fiscal surplus for the twelve-month period to well over $2.23 billion.

Year-on-year growth:

According to a Wednesday report from GGRAsia, the revelation came as part of the enclave’s draft budget for 2019 and would see tax revenues amassed from gaming during the period surpass the $10.21 billion predicted for the entirety of this year.

Earlier forecast surpassed:

GGRAsia reported that direct taxes from gaming accounted for 80.5% of Macau’s total tax revenues for the ten months from January with the figure for the period rising by 15.6% year-on-year to stand at in excess of $10.93 billion, which is some 7% above the earlier prediction.

Tolerable taxes:

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 reportedly required to pay a 35% gross gaming revenues tax alongside smaller duties for every live dealer table, gaming machine and VIP room they manage.

Aggregated gross gaming revenues rise:

The source further detailed that ten-month aggregated gross gaming revenues in the former Portuguese colony had swelled by 14.3% year-on-year to reach over $31.17 billion and that this has led to a fiscal surplus for the period of around $6.15 billion. If this trend continues, it explained that the city’s total budgetary excess come the end of 2019 could well surpass $15.17 billion.