Korea - he government will halve the new excise tax on casinos to 10 percent of net sales but will maintain the tourism promotion & development surcharge that can amount to up to 10 percent of a casino’s net sales.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance made the revision Monday in the face of strong protest from casino operators and the revised bill will be forwarded to the National Assembly Thursday for passage after Cabinet approval today.

However, casino operators are protesting the new excise tax, insisting that cutting the tax rate does not help them at all.

“The government had initially planned to impose a 20 percent excise tax and instead scrap the tourism industry promotion surcharge, which can climb up to 10 percent of net sales. This makes no sense because our tax burden has not decreased at all,” the Korea Casino Association said in a statement Monday.

Currently, 17 casinos are operating nationwide. Those who make less than 1 billion won per year pay 1 percent of their net sales as a tourism promotion surcharge. Casinos making between 1-10 billion won pay 5 percent, with those earning over 10 billion won paying 10 percent.