(Bloomberg) - Macau's casino operators and developers are hoping Chief Executive Edmund Ho's policy address tomorrow will include measures to boost the city's gaming and housing industries, the South China Morning Post reported, without saying where it got the information. The address may include cutting tax for casino operators suffering from China's travel restrictions and the global financial crisis, the Hong Kong-based newspaper said, citing industry rumors.

Amid collapsing credit markets and sinking stock prices, gaming industry leaders are looking for any piece of positive news. They hope voters in five states will give them a reason to smile come Nov. 4. Voters in Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Missouri and Ohio are evaluating gaming expansion or changes to existing gaming laws. The measures, different in size and scope, have a common thread.

The doubling of betting tax will put bookmakers out of business and lead to job losses, industry figures warned yesterday. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan yesterday announced that the Government will double the current 1 per cent levy on bookies' turnover to 2 per cent, which will net the exchequer EUR 40 million. He is also proposing to cut the Horse and Greyhound Fund - which is linked to the betting tax and supports both racing codes - by 9 per cent next year, to EUR 55 million.

One of the leading gambling firms established in Gibraltar plans to pull out, said strong indications. But questioned by Panorama, Mansion (Gibraltar) Ltd, the company involved which employs 149 staff, said it was 'not true'. It follows in the wake of the news that Partygaming is looking at making about 100 staff redundant, although they do not intend to pull out completely from Gibraltar.

The European Commission has sent a formal letter to Portugal requesting that the nation cease its practice of taxing some lottery winnings while exempting those from other games. Portugal has been a member of the European Union (EU) since 1986 and the Commission stated that the nation’s current practice runs contrary to treaty obligations as it restricts the freedom to provide equal services.

Casinos and other businesses disagree on how best to raise money for Nevada's state budget, but leaders on all sides say they hope tensions won't get out of control next year, when legislators are expected to approve a budget for 2010-2011. MGM Mirage Inc. chief executive Terry Lanni says he hopes there won't be deep divisions between casinos and other businesses on fixing the state budget.

A bill in the California legislature that would have allowed the state’s card rooms to offer online poker -and would have taxed it- won’t be considered again until next year. Poker Voters of America, which had asked for the bill to be introduced, also asked that it be shelved, because they expect the bill to be revised and reintroduced next year by new sponsors from both parties.

Holland has cleared a proposed taxation bill that would allow the Dutch Government to tax games of chance such as blackjack and online craps. The government would also be able to tax those companies for whom the Dutch have prosecuted or attempted to prosecute. There is also a provision that would allow Holland to tax foreign customers.

“The potential of growth of the games and draws industry in Mexico is subject to the fee of the government taxes plus special taxes,” said executive president of the Group of Economists and Associates (GEA), Mauricio González. “For each percentage point of additional government tax in the gaming industry, we would be reducing the growth potential of this industry in a similar proportion”, indicated in its participation with licensees of the games and draw sector.

Petaling Jaya: The absence of a tax hike for the gaming sector under Budget 2009 has left market observers positively surprised. HwangDBS Vickers Research said the market had been anticipating a tax hike for the gaming sector, especially due to the underperformance of Resorts World Bhd, Genting Bhd and Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd versus the KL Composite Index over the past month.

Casinos may be hit with a higher tax structure than numbers forecast operators (NFOs) under the gaming sector tax structure to be announced in Budget 2009 this week. OSK Research in a sector update report yesterday said: “Raising casino taxes is unlikely to cause a significant drop in casino visits apart from the VIP segment, as most of Resorts World’s casino visitors are domestic day trippers.”

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), the state-owned operator of casinos and other gaming activities, said that it would no longer be able to contribute to President Arroyo's social fund if the government insists on taxing the corporation. This was the message relayed by Pagcor to the Department of Finance (DOF) during a Senate hearing last week on the tax liabilities of Pagcor.