SABAH and Sarawak stand to benefit the most from tourism tax collection, which will be shared equally between the two states and the peninsula, said Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz.

“The collection will be divided into three parts with each of the areas getting a 33.3% share. 

“For Sabah, its lettable hotel rooms make up only 9%, Sarawak 7% and Labuan 1% while the peninsula makes up 83%, with the most rooms located in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Pahang.

“For example, if we collect RM100 million, Sarawak should only get RM7 million but it is getting 33.3% when the tax is shared equally,” Nazri said in a press conference at the Malaysian Tourism Centre in Kuala Lumpur today.

Nazri said it wouldn’t be fair to equally distribute the collection among all the states as that would mean that the small states get the same amount as the large staes.

“Perlis is a small state so it is not fair that it gets the same as Sarawak which is larger.”

Nazri said the tax would be collected by the Customs Department. 

“If the Customs Department is not ready, it (the tax) could be postponed again. It was supposed to start collecting the tax on July 1 but it was not ready and asked for an extension.

“The states can also collect their own tourism or heritage taxes while we collect the tax for federal.”

Nazri said Airbnb would not be exempted from the tourism tax. 

“We will be registering the owners with Airbnb and those who have six rooms and above will be taxable.

“They will also be rated from one to five stars and will have to pay the tax accordingly.”

Beginning August 1, Malaysians will be required to pay RM20 for five-star and RM15 for four-star accommodations, chargeable on a per room, per night basis. Locals will be exempt from the tax for hotels rated three stars and below. 

Foreign tourists will be charged the same rates, as well as RM10 for three-star, RM5 for two-star, and RM2.50 for non-rated accommodation, per room, per night.

Nazri, who tabled the tourism tax bill in April, said the government stood to collect RM654.62 million from the tax. – July 6, 2017.