MACAU BUSINESS
[downward] adjustment” in the gaming taxes of Macau. “The government should look to the future and think how it can facilitate the better development of the Macau gaming industry…in view of the [gaming industry] development in neighbouring regions,” she said on a television programme in January. She refers to the opening of more casinos and the legalisation of the gaming industry in more countries in the Asia Pacific region, namely Japan. The Asian nation approved a bill in December to legalise casino gambling, paving the way for the inauguration of new gaming resorts in the post-2020 period. Wang Changbin, associate professor at the Gaming
and Teaching Research Centre of Macau Polytechnic Institute, thinks the current gaming taxes of Macau are “relatively high” compared to other Asian jurisdictions. The city currently levies a tax rate of 38- 39 per cent on the gross gaming revenue of casinos, including a 35 per cent direct gaming tax, and a tax of 3-4 per cent for welfare and development causes.
Lower VIP tax “Given the city’s status as a gambling mecca any
downfall in the sector will have a huge impact on the city,” Prof. Wang warned when headwinds in the local casino industry led to an economic slump in the territory in the past two years prior to a recent recovery. Thus, the academic agrees that the city’s casino
taxes could be lowered - in particular for VIP gaming revenue - because the competition for Mainland Chinese high rollers has become increasingly intense
20 JUNE 2017
with new casinos in the region offering lucrative deals. “Compared with mass gamblers¬…VIP players have financial powers to travel farther away [from Mainland China and Macau] for gambling,” he reasoned. “The regional competition will be more challenging to Macau’s VIP segment.” He suggests Macau look at other markets, in which there are different tax rates for the VIP and mass segments. In Singapore, gross gaming revenue is levied with at a tax rate of 12-22 per cent, including a 7 per cent Goods and Services Tax and a levy of 15 per cent for mass market play or 5 per cent for VIP play. A 15 per cent tax is levied on VIP gaming revenue in the Philippines and 25 per cent on mass revenue. A lower tax rate could entice more investors to engage in the local junket segment, thus attracting more high rollers to the city, says a local gaming industry figure, declining to be identified. “Some junkets have relocated their operations to other regions in Asia like the Philippines and Cambodia, given the downturn in Macau and new opportunities presented by other markets,” the figure said.
Local media reported last month that about 120 licensed junkets – known as gaming promoters in official parlance – operated in the territory as of January 2017, down more than 10 per cent from the 141 of January 2016. The latest data from the Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau said the 2017 figure had tumbled by nearly half from 235 licensed junkets at the 2014 peak amid the anti-corruption crackdown on the mainland and tightening junket
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62
