Briefs | Gaming tax collections only 44% of goal by mid-year

Macau SAR’s tax revenue from the gaming industry stood at only MOP22.2 billion in July this year, representing just 44% of the MOP50 billion estimate for 2021.
The government’s current budget plan for the fiscal year aims to gather some MOP50 billion from gaming revenue, which requires the city to collect nearly MOP4.2 billion in taxes per month. However the city recorded a downturn in August GGR due to the Delta cases that led to border restrictions, only recording MOP4.44 billion in revenues, down 46.4% from the prior month.

Alvin Chao sells stake in Sun International

Casino mogul Alvin Chao has sold his entire stake in Sun International for just over USD9 million, according to a report issued by Inside Asian Gaming. First Cheer is a company jointly held by the Suncity Group CEO and Sun chairman Cheng Ting Kong. First Cheer has agreed to sell an aggregate of 1,435,009,040 sale shares, representing approximately 62.82% of the total issued share capital of the company, to Fresh Success Investments. The consideration for the sale shares is HKD143.5 million, equivalent to HKD0.10 per sale share.

Red panda Tong Tong passes away

Tong Tong, Macau’s red panda, passed away Wednesday at the age of eight after a short illness, the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has announced. Tong Tong lived at the Seac Pai Van park since 2016. She started to lose her appetite at the beginning of the month. The IAM said that it had consulted experts from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding for a medical treatment plan. The bureau said it suspects that her death was caused by a tumor, and will conduct an autopsy to confirm the cause of her death.

GBA accounting firms, groups sign strategic agreement

A strategic development agreement was signed by a number of accounting firms in the Greater Bay Area to facilitate sharing of trade information, convenient co-operation, intellectual exchange between people, and exploration of businesses and technical collaborations. The agreement was signed by 83 firms in Guangdong, 53 in Hong Kong and 15 in Macau, as well as industry groups from the three jurisdictions. A signing ceremony was held recently in all three jurisdictions, with all venues connected by video conference. Lei Wai Nong, Secretary for Economy and Finance, hinted that obstacles must be overcome to achieve greater integration between accounting professionals in the three jurisdictions.