Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAN 2023年1月 亞博匯 15 請登錄asgam.com訂閱《亞博匯早報》 Sign up to receive IAG Breakfast Briefing at asgam.com MACAU TAX BREAK SCHEME WILL REQUIRE CASINOS TO CREATE EXCLUSIVE GAMING ZONES FOR FOREIGNERS 澳門將設立 外國客博彩專區 MACAU’S EXECUTIVE COUNCIL has announced that concessionaires will be asked to establish exclusive gaming zones for non-Chinese visitors, including specially designated gaming chips, in order to help determine the amount of revenue generated by foreign passport holders. The measure forms part of a new administrative regulation that sets out the rules for a potential reduction in the tax rate charged on gross gaming revenues (GGR), with the government having previously stated concessionaires could receive a tax break of up to 5% for increasing foreign visitation. At a press conference headed by DICJ Director Adriano Marques Ho, it was revealed that operators would be required to establish exclusive foreigner-only gaming zones and that the tax concession would only apply to GGR generated within these zones. The announcement has already been met with some skepticism, with JP Morgan analyst DS Kim writing in a subsequent note that foreign GGR was unlikely to be meaningful and exclusive zones unattractive to visitors. “Foreigners probably drove less than 10% of mass GGR before COVID,” he wrote, adding, “not many of them will likely want to restrict themselves to ‘foreigner-only zones’ (which we assume will only feature a small number of tables) as gamblers typically prefer to move between different tables, to find the ‘pattern’ and ‘luck’ they favor. “Operators are unlikely to make such space too attractive given low expected returns, so we think it’s safer to model [Macau’s] gaming tax rate at (very) close to 40% of GGR, with no meaningful discount/waiver.” 澳門政府 公佈了新的行政法規，訂定承批公司在成功開拓外國客 源後，政府可以減免其博彩毛收入稅收的施行細則。政府指出， 未來會設立外國客博彩專區，作為計算減免的標準。 新的行政法規名為《減免承批公司博彩毛收入撥款的施行細 則》，但澳門行政會未公佈詳細內容。 但行政會提到：「該法規訂定減免承批公司博彩毛收稅收的 考慮因素、減免的程序、返還及退回撥款的操作。」 「基於承批公司拓展外國客源巿場的成效而減免稅收的具 體標準，行政長官在聽取博彩委員會的意見後，將以批示形式於 《公報》上公佈具體減免內容。」 行政會也提到，將在娛樂場設立外國旅客的專屬博彩區， 外國旅客在專屬區產生的博彩毛收入，成為減免稅收的計算標準。 該法規是根據新的《博彩法》第22條第三款規定的，內容是 承批公司成功開拓外國客源後，政府可減免最高5%的博彩毛收 入稅收。這個5%的博彩毛收入稅收，是承批公司每年要向政府 撥款2%的公共基金，以及3%的社會保障。