Chile’s 20 casinos paid a combined tax bill of CLP$89.7bn ($111.6m/€97.3m/£81.9m) in 2021, as the industry bounced back from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
This figure comprised CLP$41.26bn in payments to the regional governments in which each property is based, then a further CLP$39.31bn came from value added tax. The remaining CLP$9.10bn was made up of income tax payments.
The regional governments receive the funds the month after the payments have been made by the operators, meaning they will receive the money by March 2022.
This followed the country’s casino sector generating gross gaming revenue (GGR) of CLP$294.25bn for the calendar year, with $45.96bn of the total generated in December.
December’s revenue marked vast improvement on 2020 levels, even rising 10% above the monthly total in 2019, before the pandemic hit.
As a result of that strong month, December 2021 saw the 20 properties paying taxes of CLP$14.21bn, far exceeding the prior year’s contribution.
Monticello Casino in the O’Higgins region, with a CLP$3.75bn contribution, paid the highest sum, followed by Enjoy Vina del Mar in Valparaiso on CLP$1.52bn. Marina del Sol Talcahuano in Biobio came in third, paying taxes of CLP$1.40bn for the month.
Operators Enjoy and Dreams recently entered into a merger which will see the pair control 58% of industry activity within the country.
