Chilean Casino Earnings Reported
Author:
Scott Lawson
Casinos in Chile have reported on their earnings for the month of May 2023, showing a slight drop in gross gaming revenue. The figure totaled $55.7 million USD for the month, but excluded several casinos that are involved in a different tax scheme. Overall, Chilean casinos accounted for $19.6 million USD in tax, for the month of May 2023 alone. In addition, Dreams has shared more data about its distribution of prizes in H1 2023.
In Chile, the SCJ has released information about casino earnings in May 2023. Meanwhile, Dreams has shared data on the number of prizes it has awarded in 2023.
?Juan Manuel Nú?ez Méndez/Unsplash
Chile’s gaming tax in May 2023
Thanks to regulations, Chilean casino operators report on their earnings and tax contributions from year to year. More granular data — like month to month earnings — is also available, though yearly calculations tend to be used more in large-scale industry and government projections.
Chilean casinos are regulated and taxed under the national law, No. 19,995, which stipulates how much of both casino earnings and player winnings are taxed per transaction. In May 2023, the tax contribution reached a total of $19.6 million USD, or $16,026 million CLP.
Chile’s Superintendency of Gaming Casinos — the SCJ — were responsible for reporting this data publicly. Though it is a comprehensive report, three municipal gaming halls are not included in these numbers because they operate on a different tax structure. These are halls in Natales, Puerto Varas and Iquique.
For now, this figure reflects 25 of Chile’s casinos. The gross gaming income totaled $55.7 million USD. It was also compared to previous months of earnings, and inflation was taken into account within the comparisons. After removing inflation, it was found that this figure was 7.3% lower than earnings in April 2022.
However, the difference was less when compared to May 2022; in this case it was only a 1.4% drop. The number of people attending casinos was also calculated during this period. 562,569 entered these 25 casinos. This was also roughly 7% less than during May 2022. The SCJ did not provide any explanation for why these drops may have occurred.
Distributions across Chile’s government
The SCJ has also provided information about where taxes will be distributed from these total earnings: $8.5 million USD is for regional governments and municipalities funding various development projects; $8.2. million USD is for gaming income VAT; $2.8 million are for national general funds. Though the information is available now, the actual funds will not be distributed fully until August 2023. Only then can they be put into use by the governments who are receiving them.
Dreams reports on prizes awarded
In tandem with the SCJ’s report, Dreams — one of Chile’s top casino operator chains despite a recent collusion case — has reported its payouts for H1 2023. These have equated to $83.9 million USD. These prizes were distributed across Dreams’ seven locations.
According to Dreams’ data, 48,819 prizes have been awarded worth more than $616 USD each. The chain’s corporate affairs manager, Carlos Silva, commented on the news by saying that it is important that the company can continue to offer “life-changing” prizes to its customers. Silva said they see countless positive stories behind the prizes won at Dreams.
He further broke down the figures to show that most of the winners — about half — won between 500,000 and 999,999 CLP. Most of the rest won more than 1 million CLP. The top tier of winners — just 328 people — won more than 10 million CLP, which is the equivalent of over $12,000 USD.
Furthermore, it can be seen that the Dreams Monticello location was the one to award the highest number of prizes in the first half of this year. One of the most memorable winners was Larry Silva from Coyhaique, who won more than $60,400 while he waited for his wife at one of the casinos.
