LATEST UPDATE :
On Wednesday ( August '17) , Nazri announced in Parliament that Malaysians would be exempted from tourism tax. Foreign tourists will be charged a flat rate of RM10 per room per night for all hotel classifications, but this is not applicable to premises with five or fewer rooms as well as homestays and village stays.
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KUALA LUMPUR: The implementation of the Tourism Tax (TTx) will begin on August 1 this year, as announced by the Customs Department on their website.
Prior to the enforcement date, operators of accommodation premises are required to register their businesses starting July 1.
Regulated by the Finance Ministry and the Customs Department, the tax is charged at a specific rate on tourists staying at any accommodation premises provided by an operator of the said accommodation premises.
These accommodation premises are buildings including hostels, hotels, inns, boarding-houses, rest houses and lodging houses, held out by the proprietor, owner or manager, either wholly or partly, as offering lodging or sleeping accommodation to tourists for hire or any other form of reward, whether or not food or drink is also offered.
Tourist accommodation premises are any accommodation which have been registered by the Commissioner under subsection 31C (1) Tourism Industry Act 1992.
It is stated in the announcement that this tax is implemented using a mechanism of cooperation between the government and the industry to enhance tourism experience for tourists.
Tax returns will be used to develop the tourism industry, namely the enhancement of tourism infrastructure and facilities, tourism promotional activities and campaigns.
Implementation of this tax is also an effort to protect, preserve and conserve Mother Nature, culture and heritage for the benefit of the present and future generations.
According to the announcement, tax rate is fixed at RM20 per room per night (five-star), RM10 per room per night (four-star), RM5 per room per night (one-, two- and three-star), RM2.50 per room per night (one, two and three Orchid) and RM2.50 per room per night (non-rated accommodation premises).
Whether Malaysian nationals or otherwise, a “tourist” defines any persons visiting any place in Malaysia for purposes including recreation or holiday, culture, religion, visiting friends or relatives, sports, business, meetings, conferences, seminars or conventions, studies or research, any other purpose which is not related to an occupation that is remunerated from the place visited.
Under the TTx, the registered operator is liable to collect tourism tax from a tourist upon his or her departure and pay the tourism tax collected to the Customs Department in respect of his taxable period.
The announcement also stated that an exemption of the tourism tax is available for ‘homestay’ registered with Ministry of Tourism and Culture (Motac), ‘kampung stay’ registered with Motac, accommodation premises established and maintained by religious institutions not for commercial purposes or accommodation premises with less than 10 rooms.
Accommodation premises operated by the Federal Government, State Government or statutory body for training, educational or accommodation not for commercial purposes are also eligible for the exemption.
Source : NST
Opinion :
THE TOURISM TAX COMES AT A BAD TIME
THE business sector is almost dry from being squeezed by the multitude of extractions introduced by the Government, from outrageous fees for out-sourcing, levies and business licences to contributions in the employment insurance scheme, increased coverage for Socso, and etc.
And now there is tourism tax.
No doubt room tax/ tourism tax is imposed in some countries but this is the worst time to introduce it here as our economy is going through very tough and challenging times, with inflationary pressures due to the increasing cost of doing business and limited improvements in productivity.
The proposed RM20 per room-night tax translates to at least 6% of the room rates based on our low average room rate achievable.
There wasn’t any complementary relief for personal tax nor corporate tax when GST was introduced. At the moment, our tax rate is already misaligned with our neighbouring countries. Even traditionally high-tax countries like Britain and Indonesia have also reduced their rates to 20%.
Although the Government may argue that more tax revenue is needed to plug the deficit, we expect it to also tighten the belt in the same way the business sector has been doing to get through these challenging times.
Don’t let yet another untimely additional cost of doing business become the proverbial burden that breaks the camel’s back.
CHANG TK
Petaling Jaya
Source : The Star online
