AIEJA, the business association that represents Mexico’s gaming industry, is pressing the federal government to unify the tax structure that overhangs the industry.
AIEJA President Miguel Ángel Ochoa commented that the current structure “fiscally strangles the industry.” A single tax payment, he said, would improve income control and help distribute the tax benefits of casinos to local, state and federal governments. He argues that the states that host casinos should get the benefits of taxes.
He added, “In general, taxes fiscally strangle this industry and indirectly promote clandestine and illegal gambling. They also alienate investments, so we welcome a measure to boost the economy.”
Before the pandemic, 384 casinos paid $251 million to the federal government, and $126 million to states and cities. Now there are 284.
However, Mexico ‘s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, currently has a ban on new casinos. Up to 754 could be operating, says Ochoa, if the ban was removed.
