The Venetian in Cotai will have to pay 18.9 million patacas in back taxes for its “gondola rides” at its hotel facility, the office of the president of the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) said in a statement yesterday.

According to the statement, the company owes the public coffers 13.13 million patacas in unpaid tourism tax for 2013 and 5.8 million patacas for 2014, according to a recent ruling by the Court of Second Instance (TSI), which confirmed an earlier decision by the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on the dispute.

The company had appealed the MP’s decision.

Yesterday’s TUI statement referred to the appellant as “Company A”. However, the statement said that the gondola rides are taking place at the Venetian hotel. The TUI statement pointed out that the gondola rides are a complementary service provided by the hotel, raising its competitive edge. Therefore, the statement said, the hotel is obligated to pay tourism tax for its gondola rides.

Tourists enjoy a gondola ride at the Venetian in Cotai early this year. Photo: Simon Wang