The Macau SAR Government collected around MOP$613 million (US$76.8 million) in gaming taxes in August, leaving it at just 45.6% of its 2020 budgetary goals.
According to figures published by the Financial Services Bureau on Wednesday, gaming tax for the first eight months of the year amounted to MOP$22.81 billion (US$2.86 billion) – up MOP$613.3 million from MOP$22.19 billion (US$2.78 billion) through July.
It also means the government currently has collected just 45.6% of the MOP$49.98 billion (US$6.26 billion) in gaming revenue it has budgeted to collect by the end of the year. The government had originally budgeted to collect gaming taxes of MOP$98.21 billion (US$12.30 billion) in 2020 but revised that figure down by 49% in May due to the impact of COVID-19 on the city’s gaming operators.
Gaming taxes through August are just a third of the MOP$76.47 billion (US$9.58 billion) collected over the same period in 2019.
Despite this, the government has still recorded a surplus of MOP$19.47 billion (US$2.44 billion) over the first eight months of 2020, down from a surplus of MOP$38.24 billion (US$4.79 billion) at the same time last year.
The declines reflect significant falls in gross gaming revenue this year, down more than 90% year-on-year for each of the past five months including a 94.5% fall in August to MOP$1.33 billion (US$166 million).
