The Macau government’s direct taxes from gaming grew 17.0% to MOP$80.3 billion through the first nine months of 2018, including MOP$9.6 billion in September alone according to latest figures released by the Financial Services Bureau.
Gaming tax revenue has comprised 80.9% of the MOP$90.3 billion in total revenue so far this year, helping the government achieve 94.3% of its target revenue for all of 2018 with three months still remaining. Officials had budgeted MOP$105.3 billion in total revenue for 2018 including MOP$82.4 billion in gaming taxes.
The surplus currently stands at MOP$45.8 billion.
September’s strong tax contribution comes despite gross gaming revenue for the month growing just 2.8% year-on-year to MOP$21.9 billion due to the impact of Typhoon Mangkhut, which forced all of Macau’s casinos to close for a period of 29 hours mid-month.