Panama: Casinos might pay the new tax

De Lima had a meeting with the Secretary of the Gambling Control Committee (JCJ), Giselle Brea, and the president of the Association of Gaes of Chance Administrators, Antonio Alfaro, to whom he communicated that the government needs additional economic resources and that the analysis performed reveal that the games of chance industry and the casinos can afford the increments of taxes proposed. “Prosperity must be shared”, pointed De Lima. He explained that in the tax reform it was set out an increment of 10% to 18% of its participation in the gross income of casinos and in the slot halls the contribution to the state increased from 10% to 25%.

Among the modifications, it establishes that the new administrators or operators of Type A slots that obtain a contract will have to pay the JCJ the amount of us$ 1 million by the goodwill for each venue it operates. Fiscal adjustments will allow the state to receive an income of us$ 225 million a year.

Once the fiscal modification is applied, the amounts that will be obtained will be the following: us$ 62 million will come from the charge of new ITBMS fees, U$S 6 million in concept of commercial fixed telephone, us$ 2.5 million in the tax to tobacco; us$ 40 million with the tax of operation advise, us$ 25 million of the participation of the state in the casino and games of chance incomes and us$ 16 million to the Special Fund of Compensation of Interests (FECI), us$ 20 million of the real estate tax and us$ 53 million in the area of the real estate taxes.