KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians will soon have to fork out more money when they board a flight out of the country.
Those travelling to other Asean countries will be charged a RM20 departure levy and those travelling elsewhere will pay RM40. This is over and above the RM73 airport tax that they are already paying.
The new levy is provided for in the Departure Levy Bill 2019 that was tabled in Parliament by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah today.
The government first proposed to impose a departure levy on air travel from June 1 when it tabled Budget 2019 last year.
The objective is to encourage the development of domestic tourism.
Failure to pay the levy will be deemed an offence punishable with a fine of up to RM500,000 or a jail term of up to three years or both.
