Chilean Casinos Show High Tax Earnings
Chile’s Superintendencia de Casinos de Juegos (SCJ) has reported on casino earnings for July 2021, showing an impressive contribution of $8.1 million (USD) in tax for the month. This is of course considered a great improvement compared to previous months, which have seen casino visitation restricted by coronavirus safety measures and an increase of protests.
Chile’s casinos have reported $8.1 million USD in tax earnings for July 2021. ©Aidan Howe/Unsplash
A look at the numbers
The most recent report from the SCJ, Chilean casinos’ governing body, shows that reopened casinos had 91.1% of the regular operation activity compared to the same time frame pre-pandemic. This was based on both customer visitation and daily spend.
Out of the money collected for tax, $2,890 million CLP is allocated to regional governments and communities in which the respective casinos are located. $2.746 million CLP accounts for gambling VAT. $740 million CLP accounts for income tax.
Though the earnings have been calculated now, it takes some time for payments to process through the system and to their final recipients. First the casinos must make their payments as calculated by the SCJ report. It is likely that tax earnings from July will be paid out in October 2021.
All in all, the improvement to casino visitation between June 2021 and July 2021 is nothing short of impressive. SCJ reported $1.8 million in tax earnings in its June report, which means an increase of 4.5 times for July. The sharp uptick makes sense considering that in June, only three of Chile’s 26 casinos were allowed to operate at a limited capacity, compared to 25 now.
Casino visitation
The positive tax earnings result is largely due to a turn in COVID-19 within Chile. Cases have decreased, allowing the country to reopen piece by piece following a national “Step by Step Plan.” Based on this plan, 25 out of 26 of Chile’s land-based casinos operated in the month of July, contributing to the total $8.1 million in tax.
Aside from reporting on tax earnings, the SCJ document also shows insights about casino visitation during this time period. According to the report, 202,569 people entered a group of twenty regional casinos in July 2021. Unfortunately, that number is still only 42.4% of visitations reported in July 2019.
Municipal casinos received 72,083 visits, on the other hand. This represented 40% of the visitation they received in July 2019.
However, one major difference has helped make up for the visitation gap: Expenditure. According to the SCJ, during July 2021 visitors spent 28.1% more than they had in the same time period in 2019, averaging $84.168 per visit.
Therefore, it looks like Chilean casinos are not receiving as many casual visitors — who might just visit for fun but not to seriously play — but the visitors they do receive are more invested in gaming. This trend is in keeping with findings from June 2021, which showed average spend up by 45% compared to the same period in 2019.
It is also hopeful for Chile’s casino industry as a whole which has been plagued by distrust in the previous years, first as casino operators pushed back again proposed changes to licensing, and then as the SCJ’s superintendent faced a court trial regarding online gambling regulations.
