Tourism tax waiver for Macao restaurants to begin tomorrow

Starting from 1 June, Macao restaurants, bars and dining venues that are not situated in a hotel will be given a tourism tax waiver and exempted from having to pay the SAR’s 5 percent tourism tax. 

The new tourism tax waiver stems from the city’s amended food and beverage establishments law, which seeks to optimise regulations and streamline licensing for new restaurants.

Under the new law, hotels, dance halls, gyms, health clubs, saunas, massage parlours, karaoke venues and bars inside hotels will continue to incur the tourism levy. Restaurants located within hotels are already exempt from the fee under regulations outlined in the SAR government’s 2026 budget.

Tourism tax waiver: alleviating the burden on businesses

Local industry experts believe the tourism tax waiver will help businesses. Fong Kin Fu, the vice president of the United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macao, said it would help to alleviate cost pressures, with savings transferred over to consumers. 

He noted that the tourism tax waiver was a significant burden, as it was levied according to their sales volume. 

The new move “eases restrictions and allows [restaurateurs] to cut their expenses and further reduce their operating costs,” Fong told local broadcaster TDM. “I hope it will help them to strengthen their competitiveness.”

Regarding the new food and beverage law’s streamlining of licensing and registration procedures, the industry expert believed it would help to attract investors, helping to drive the development of the first store economy – a business model that involves attracting non-local stores to set up their first overseas business in Macao. 

[See more: Macao passes 20 million visitor arrivals in 2026, 18 days earlier than last year]

Wong Fai, the head of the Macau Leisure Tourism Services Innovation Association, was similarly optimistic about the tax exemption, telling TDM that it would boost the confidence of the sector, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. He pointed out that the recent hike in oil prices, rising expenditure in the food business and the movement of some consumption away from Macao had impacted out the industry.

According to the SAR government’s latest 2024 study on the F&B sector, there were 4,930 dining establishments in Macao that year, with these businesses earning 15.05 billion patacas in sales for the entire year, up 3.4 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, expenditure of such stores jumped 3.1 percent to 15.1 billion patacas, with the sector failing to make a profit.