Macau's fiscal 2024 budget did not mention the possibility of rebates on its previously raised gross game revenue (GGR) taxes on bets made by foreign players. The budget plan was finalized by the city council on Wednesday.

With Macau's new decade-long regulatory framework for gaming rights being revamped from January, the government said it may approve kickbacks of up to 5 percentage points on Macau's 40 percent GGR for plays that occur when overseas players use special designated areas of gaming facilities. However, operators will have to apply for such relief.

As of April, authorities have confirmed that all six operators already have foreign-only betting zones. Until June this year, the government noted that none of those operators had applied for GGR tax rebates for any foreign-made play.

The comments on the 2024 budget were part of what was known as a "conclusive opinion" on it, and the overall comments were approved by a recent city legislative committee ahead of Wednesday's final vote.

The final comment stated: "It will be difficult to estimate whether foreign visitors will gamble at casinos and thereby abandon related contributions to the city's gaming tax revenues..."

The document also said, "The Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region will continue to attract foreign customers to visit Macau through government work next year. It will install more international air routes in Macau and offer more transportation discounts to travelers. And also from casino concessioners."

The city government forecasts casino GGR to reach 216 billion MOPs ($26.8 billion) in 2024, a figure mentioned in the budget for fiscal year 2024.

Macau expects annual game tax revenue to reach MOP756.66 billion. It also estimates it will collect MOP30.0 million in 2024 in taxes on fees paid to junk by casinos.