By Zareef Muzammil
SHAH ALAM, Nov 23 — Tourism industry operators hope a discount on assessment tax will be announced in the 2022 Selangor Budget (#Selangor2022) which will be tabled this Friday.
Selangor’s Malaysian Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (Matta) chairman such incentive should be considered as the sector has just recovered after being badly affected by Covid-19.
Gopalan Mariappan added that they had submitted a proposal for a discount on assessment tax for business premises operated by tourism operators to the local authority (PBT).
“Although it looks quite difficult, we really hope that the state government can study the proposal to give a discount on the assessment tax paid by tourism operators on their business premises to local authorities.
“Now is the time for tourism industry players to restart business with the flexibility given in the National Recovery Plan (NRP) phase,” he said when contacted today.
On June 9, Selangor Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari had announced an allocation of RM2.55 million for the sustainability of the tourism industry through the Kita Selangor Package 2.0.
The initiative includes grant assistance amounting to RM1 million, tourism vouchers, a tourism digitalisation training programme and cash aid to 16 tourism associations.
On November 19 last year, a total of 553 tourism industry players in the state comprising tour guides, homestay operators and community hosts received a one-off incentive totalling RM1,000 each, in addition to offering 10,000 tourism subsidy vouchers worth RM200 each.
While on February 2 this year, Amirudin announced the implementation of the full entertainment duty exemption for theme parks’ entrance fees that begins from March 18 last year to the end of the year, involving an estimated financial impact of RM26.35 million.
He also stated that the entertainment tax rate is reduced from 25 per cent to 5 per cent over a duration of five years starting from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2026, with a total revenue impact of RM21.04 million a year.
The #Selangor2022 budget that will be tabled at the Selangor State Legislative Assembly will focus on efforts to help the people and revive the economy during the post-pandemic.
