Chinese chamber hails tourism tax exemption
KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce ( KKCCCI) president Datuk Michael Lui yesterday welcomed the exemption of tourism tax for Malaysians.
Lui said the exemption showed that the government listened to the people and have considered the additional burden on Malaysians if the tax was to be imposed on them.
Nonetheless, he suggested that foreigners staying at hotels rated three stars and below should be exempted from being charged the flat rate of RM10 per night per room.
“The tourism tax should be imposed on hotels with four stars and above to ensure Sabah’s tourism remains competitive globally,” Lui said, explaining that doing so would also help stimulate the state’s tourism industry.
On the other hand, the government’s plan to return RM1 for every RM10 collected to the respective states was insufficient to enable the state governments to effectively carry out their tourism promotion activities.
Instead, he proposed that RM5 for every RM10 collected should be channelled to the respective states.
Lui urged the federal Tourism and Culture Ministry to defer the implementation of the tourism tax until April next year for Sabah and Sarawak to allow ample time for the industry players to prepare their tax collection mechanism.
“We opine that the deferment rather than hasty implementation of the tax will contribute towards positive development of our country’s tourism industry.”