Casinos in Sonora, Mexico, Just Landed in the Taxman’s Crosshairs

A discrepancy in tax revenue casinos in Sonora, Mexico, gave last year and what the government expected to see has provoked the taxman. The government is ready to put the casinos’ accounting practices under the microscope this year.

Sonora, Mexico, has 33 licensed casinos, all of which regularly pay taxes. However, it seems as though one, or possibly a few, didn’t comply last year. Now, the taxman is coming for them.

The fiscal situation of Sonora casinos is now under scrutiny, according to Alfonso Durazo, the governor of the state. Sonora casinos gave up an estimated $11.9 million in taxes last year. However, this figure was much lower than the State Ministry of Finance expected.

Show Me the Money

Durazo pointed out that in other entities, such as Nuevo León, the taxes obtained from gaming rooms exceed $30 million. He also indicated that, with the audit program the taxman already in place, Sonora will increase the tax collection by as much as 400%.

Through the state’s new fiscal measures, which the governor didn’t detail, the tax revenue by gambling halls this 2022 will reach $48.6 million. This figure is possible thanks to the three types of taxes that gambling halls must pay. They give up a percentage of their revenue as tax for offering gaming activities and raffles, the expenses of each room and a tax on the prizes they award.

In addition, a growing interest in the online side of the sector is arriving. Thanks to Internet casinos, more Sonorans are now jumping online to visit a casino. As a result, the number of online operators continues to grow and will increase in the coming years. In 2020, according to Statista, the online market was worth over $2 billion, making it an attractive target.

Casinos Unhappy with the Attention

Businesses in the gambling sector have been unhappy with the measures taken by the government of Sonora. Many of them see these audits by the Ministry of Finance as an attack on the sector and a way to squeeze them out of more money.

Due to the COVID crisis, casinos in Mexico were closed or operating under restrictions on their attendance for almost a year. This severely affected the revenues of the gambling properties.

The casinos aren’t happy with the latest developments. They argue that the government is coming after them just as they began to see their operations return to normal, disrupting the recovery process.

These audits will concentrate on tax collection and other tax matters. They will also explore the relationship the government has with casinos. It covers the fiscal periods between 2015 and 2021, which means the properties are looking at potentially damaging findings if they attempted to cook the books.

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