Macau taxman rakes in winnings

Updated at 5.29pm: Macau?s tax revenue from direct gaming rose significantly in the first five months of this year ? despite the mainland?s high-profile crackdown on gambling earlier this year.

Xinhua reported on Wednesday that Macau?s gaming tax revenue reached 6.58 billion patacas (HK$6.39 billion) from January to May, an increase of 24.7 per cent year on year.

The strong rise came as a relief to Macau?s casino operators, who had expressed concern about the impact of mainland?s nationwide crackdown on gambling before the Chinese New Year. Macau is the only city in China that has legalised gambling. According to a survey by the Macau Daily last year, half of the mainland tourists who visited the former Portuguese enclave did so to gamble.

Macau?s 17 casinos pay 35 per cent of their gross revenues as direct tax to the government. The gaming tax revenue accounted for 77.2 per cent of the government?s total income between January and May, according to figures from the Finance Service Bureau released on Wednesday.

The government?s revenue in the first five months was 8.52 billion patacas, up 24.9 per cent year on year.