Sabah to make a stand on new ruling

PETALING JAYA: Sabah will make a stand on the implementation of the Tourism Tax after its Cabinet meeting this week.
Its state Tourism, Culture and Environment assistant minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming said the new tax must be implemented reasonably and take the people's welfare into consideration.
"We need to know and discuss how the implementation and disbursement of the tax collected will be done. We also need to see whether to impose it on only those who can afford," Pang said.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) said tourists staying at hotels in Malacca, Penang and Langkawi will have to pay both the controversial Tourism Tax and existing local hotel tourist based charges.
MAH chief executive officer Yap Lip Seng said the new tax would be counter productive as it would only drive tourists away from staying in these areas.
"They will have to pay both (Tourism Tax and local tax), on top of the Goods and Services Tax. There will be many levels of taxation on hotels," he said.
"Tourists will be discouraged to stay at hotels while hoteliers will have a tough time explaining it to the guests," he told theSun.
Malacca, Penang and Langkawi each have their own version of charges imposed on hotel rooms, in addition to the room charges per night.
Penang imposed a local government fee on hotels with different charges based on their star ratings. There is a surcharge in hotels in Langkawi while Malacca imposes a heritage fee.
Yap said a drop of 10% to 20% of tourism activities in the areas was expected with the implementation of Tourism Tax soon.
Yap said the tourism and culture minister had never officially engaged with stakeholders over the matter.
"We do not have any information on the specifics, how do we collect the tax, how do we put it into the system, how will we be charging our guests?" he said.