(PanamaNewsRoom) If you are a shopper at  Panama's "one armed bandits" the time is fast coming when for every dollar you put in the gambling machine, you will be donating 22 cents to the government jackpot. Panama’s casinos will soon be paying  15% of their gross monthly revenue to the government and slot machine rooms will be heading for 22%.

Panama's full  casinos create an estimated 5,421 jobs Giselle Brea, executive secretary  of the Gaming Control Board of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) reported Sunday March 13, that the full casinos,  had 11,621 slot machines, and 268 tables operating in Panama.

This year casinos have to pay 12.5 percent of their gross monthly income to the MEF but  beginning Jan. 1, 2012, that will jump to 15 percent.

"A" category slot machine rooms currently  pay 16 percent of their gross income on a monthly basis, and beginning Jan. 1, 2012, that will increase to 19 percent, and beginning Jan. 1, 2014, will climb to 22 percent.

**********

Original Source: PanamaNewsRoom

Date Retrieved: March 14, 2011.