Legislation
Mexico – Mexican State of Chihuahua raises taxes on gaming again
By Phil - 16 January 2019
The Mexican state of Chihuahua has recently published the details of a State Treasury Law which imposes a tax of 6 percent on profits on the casinos that operate in the state.
Article 19 of the law which went into operation on January 1, 2019, established, that “the tax will be calculated applying a rate of 6 per cent to the total value of the earned income by the organization of games with bets and / or draws “. The new tax is applicable to gaming parlours, and licensed land based operators offering online casino and sports betting in the state.
The new measures are part of a much larger raft of additional tax measures now in place in the state which will increase taxes on as many as sixty business activities. Taxes will be charged on those who obtain income by “free exercise of a profession, art, trade, technical, sports or cultural activity, as agent of institutions of credit, insurance or bonds, through the exploitation of a customs patent or in any other similar way “.
Deputy of the PRI party , Omar Bazán criticised the implementation of the new taxes as the government headed by Javier Corral, has provided no information on how the additional income will be divided.
In five years the number of casinos installed in Chihuahua has increased from two to 13, most of these (six) are located in the state capital, followed by Ciudad Juárez the most populous city in the Mexican state where there are now three.
This is not the first time that the industry has been hit by an additional tax. In 2017 governor Jurado announced that there would be two new taxes applicable to casinos and bookmakers in the region standing at 6 per cent and 3 per cent on player winnings. Combined the new taxes were expected to raise around $130m ($US6.9m) during 2018. The new tax went into effect on January 1 2018 but the government left the 3 per cent tax on winnings out. Governor Javier Jurado said at the time that the new tax was a way of “exploring new income alternatives, without undermining the Chihuahuan economy.” He also pointed out that there had already been “a remarkable national movement in the gaming and betting industry” on a state wide level.
