Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng signed Dispatch No. 121/2022 on July 14, 2022, republishing the full text of Law No. 16/2001 on the legal regime for casino gaming operations as amended by Law No. 7/2022, according to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau1. The dispatch states that the Chief Executive acted under Article 50 of the Basic Law and Article 7 of Law No. 7/20221.
The republished law keeps the operating right for casino gaming with the Macau Special Administrative Region, with any other entity needing a prior concession, and states that casino gaming may only be run inside casinos1. It caps the number of casino gaming concessions at six and bars any encumbrance, transfer or assignment of the operating right to a third party1. Concession terms must be set in the concession contract and cannot exceed ten years, with exceptional extensions capped at three years in total1.
The law sets a minimum share capital of 50 million patacas for a concessionaire, a figure its net assets must also meet throughout the concession, and requires the managing director to be a permanent resident of Macau holding at least 15 percent of the company's capital1. Concessionaires must contribute 2 percent of gross gaming revenue each year to a public fund for cultural, social, economic, educational, scientific, academic and charitable activities, and 3 percent to urban development, tourism promotion and social security1.
On taxes, the special gaming tax is set at 35 percent, payable monthly to the Finance Bureau within the first ten days of the following month, while commission paid to gaming intermediaries is taxed at 5 percent1. The Chief Executive may partially exempt the tax for up to five years, but the exemption cannot exceed 40 percent of the rate1. Gaming intermediaries must hold a non-transferable license issued by the Secretary for Economy and Finance, may work with only one concessionaire, and may only be paid by commission, with no revenue sharing with the concessionaire1. The law also states that illegal gaming is criminally punished under special legislation1.
What it means for players
The republished text is the version of the law that now applies in Macau's casinos. It confirms that casino gaming is confined to licensed casinos, that pari-mutuel betting and betting offered to the public cannot be run inside them, and that a casino concessionaire cannot operate any form of interactive gaming, which requires a separate concession1. For visitors and locals, the practical rules on entry, working and gambling inside casinos are left to separate regulations, which the law says will be set out in dedicated rules1. The tax and contribution rates in the text shape how much of what is wagered reaches public funds rather than the operator, though the law does not set player-facing terms such as table limits or game rules.
What happens next
The dispatch was dated July 14, 2022, and republishes the amended law in full1. No further steps are set out in the published text.
For background on how Macau's rules compare with the rest of the region, see Recent and Pending Gambling Law Changes in Asia and Gambling Laws in Asia: What Is Legal in 12 Jurisdictions. For the territory's own rules, see Can I Gamble in Macau?.
Sources1 sources
- 澳門特別行政區 政府博彩監察協調局, dicj.gov.mo
