Macau’s Legislative Assembly presented the draft budget law for 2019, which included a forecast of tax revenue, Macau Hub reports.
The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Leong Vai Tac, told members that the forecast of tax revenue from the special tax on gambling and concession revenues represents an increase of 10.5 billion patacas compared with this year.
Leong also said that this figure is calculated based on an estimated gross revenue of 260 billion patacas (US$32.5 billion) or 21.67 billion patacas per month.
The budget for 2019 includes spending of 103.343 billion patacas, an increase of 2.2% or 2.232 billion patacas compared to the 101.111 billion patacas included in the budget for this year.
Total revenue is expected to reach 12.385 billion patacas, with Leong Vai Tac saying this is an increase of 13.3% or 14.35 billion patacas compared with revenue for this year, which is estimated at 108.034 billion patacas.
As a result, the budget for 2019 should show a positive balance of 19.041 billion patacas, with the balance of the central services of 18.061 billion patacas and 979 million patacas for the autonomous bodies.
The Secretary for Economy and Finance also referred to tax benefits and subsidies to residents in order to alleviate the tax burden on citizens and to enjoy a share of the fruits of economic development.
The proposed budget also outlines a number of measures for tax reductions and exemptions along with tax refunds, such as reducing additional income tax and professional tax.
Leong Vai Tac also told members that the amount allocated to the Administration Investment and Development Expenditure Plan (PIDDA) for 2019 is 16.634 billion patacas, a drop of 4.513 billion patacas compared with 2018.
This decrease is due to the completion of the construction programme for the artificial border island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in 2018, which cost 5.584 billion patacas (US$698 million), with no forecast for construction on that scale in 2019. (macauhub)