{"id":29901,"date":"2017-08-01T21:32:52","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T13:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=29901"},"modified":"2017-08-01T21:32:58","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T13:32:58","slug":"tourism-tax-malaysia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/tourism-tax-malaysia","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s What You Need To Know About The New Tourism Tax"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not too long\u00a0ago, Malaysians woke up to the fact that come August 1 this year, they\u2019ll have to pay more when putting up a night at a hotel. Enter, the Tourism Tax (TTx).<\/p>\n

Like all tax-related matters, the move was greeted with mixed reactions. Singaporeans are unfazed, confident that the stronger Singaporean dollar would mitigate the introduction of the new tourism tax<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some Malaysians, however, are not as optimistic. In a report, CIMB Research said TTx could hurt hotel owners<\/a> while the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) believed the country\u2019s World Competitiveness rankings will be severely affected<\/a>, citing the tax\u2019s untimely entry into the tourism market.<\/p>\n

The good news is Malaysians are exempted from the tax but foreign tourists will have to pay a flat rate of RM10 per night. So here’s what you need to know about the tax:<\/p>\n

<\/span>Breaking it\u00a0down<\/span><\/h2>\n

When the Dewan Rakyat approved the Tourism Tax Bill 2017, Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz said the tax collected would be in the region of RM654.62 million if the overall occupancy rate for the 11 million \u201croom night\u201d in the country would achieve 60%.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What is room night?<\/p>\n

<\/div>

<\/p>\n

Room night, <\/strong>or room\/night, is a measure of occupancy where a room is the unit of measure.<\/p>\n

This is opposed to bed\/night occupancy, where one calculates the number of beds in the entire hotel (a room can have more than one) against the nights each of them are booked.<\/p>\n

For example: <\/strong><\/p>\n

A hotel has 10 rooms each with 2 beds. If 5 separate people book 5 rooms for all 30 days in the month of June, the hotel has a room occupancy or room\/night occupancy of 50% for April.<\/p>\n

But there are 20 beds spread out over these 10 rooms. If these same 5 single and separate people booked the 5 rooms for all of April, the bed\/night occupancy would be only 25%, because 5 beds were used out of a possible 20 for June.<\/p>\n

Source: <\/em>Djaunter<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>\n

Nazri believes that with proper promotion and 80% occupancy rate, RM872.82 million can be collected which could provide a sustainable fund every year to develop the tourism industry and make it more competitive.<\/p>\n

According to an early\u00a0Customs Department circular, the tax is charged at a specific rat, based on hotel ratings. But the government decided to scrap that and announced a flat fee of RM10 a night. Here\u2019s how this differs from the other charges imposed at hotel rooms nationwide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Tax differences<\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tourism tax<\/td>Fixed rate nationwide @ RM10 a night. <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Service charge\/Property tax<\/td>10% on room rate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Goods and services tax<\/td>6% on room rate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Heritage tax\/surcharge\/local government fee (varies from location to location):<\/td>Penang<\/strong> = RM3 per room night @ 4- and 5-star hotels, RM2 per room night for 3-star and below including all dorms, budget hotels, hostels and guesthouses.
\n
\nLangkawi <\/strong> = RM9 per night on all hotel stays.
\n
\nMelaka <\/strong> = heritage tax fee of RM2 imposed per night.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

 <\/p>\n

And, here\u2019s the list of properties exempted from the tax:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n