Just recently, the Royal Malaysian Custom Department has announced that the Tourism Tax Bill is set to be implemented on tourists from both Malaysia and foreign countries, effective August 1.
Source: Kwiknews
According to The Star, the new Bill stated that tourists have to pay extra RM20 for five-star accommodation, RM10 for four-star, and RM5 for three stars and below. For non-rated accommodation such as budget hotels, tourists will still have to pay RM2.50 to the operator. Don’t forget you still have to pay for GST on top of that yea guys!
The Bill was recently passed by the Parliament in April and the customs department had put up the announcement on its official portal.
Butttt it was taken down in less than 24 hours.
According to Pocket Times, although the Bill was passed in the Parliament, it is still pending approval from our King, said the Director of GST Division, Ahmad Maher. So technically the Bill cannot be implemented just yet.
Many netizens who weren’t happy with the Tourism Tax Bill seized the opportunity to criticise the customs department for making the hasty decision of uploading the announcement.
“They blatantly put up the announcement when our King still haven’t given the approval. Are they going rogue now? Someone from the department should apologise to the King.” said a netizen.
“This is not the first time. They are quick to make announcement but the preparation or research is never sufficient. When problems arise, they will apologise and retract the announcement,” another netizen commented.
The law-making procedure in Malaysia has been in place for a long time, how can they make such a mistake? But after 30 days, the Bill will automatically become a law anyway, even if our King does not give his assent. That’s the standard procedure guys!
In short, the Tourism Tax Bill is bound to happen, it’s just a matter of time. 🙁
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