Govt expects MOP85 billion in taxes from gaming

The Macau government is expecting to rake in MOP85 billion (US$10.6 billion) in 2012 as revenue from direct taxes on gaming. Local officials say they are expecting the city’s casinos to post an average monthly gross gaming revenue of MOP20 billion for the year. As usual, this is a conservative estimate: it is very likely that this year alone the industry will beat that figure – the current monthly average for 2011 stands at MOP22.1 billion. For 2012, the industry consensus is that the local casinos will post a year-on-year growth of 15 to 20 percent. Estimated government expenditure for 2012 stands at MOP77.4 billion while revenue is projected to go up to a record MOP115.2 billion.