KUCHING: The new tourism tax, which comes into effect after the passing of the Tourism Tax Bill in Parliament, will be an addition to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Service Charge.
“They attempted to mislead the public, claiming that the state was not informed and consulted on the implementation of the tax when in fact in the last parliamentary sitting, Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs including those from Sarawak voted for implementation of the tax,” said Kelvin Yii, who is special assistant to state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen, in a press release yesterday.
“I am appalled by recent statements by both Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and his assistant minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin blaming the federal government in an attempt to exonerate themselves from the responsibility of implementation of the new tourism tax, which will affect all states including Sarawak.
“Are they implying that BN Sarawak MPs voted blindly or were unaware of what they were voting for?” he argued.
Yii said it is the responsibility of BN MPs to inform the state government of all the Bills and happenings in Parliament so that they could make an informed vote to better represent the needs of the state.
“If not, what is the point of voting for them if they don’t carry out their responsibilities? There should be no excuse that the state wasn’t consulted and try to blame the federal government, hiding behind our rights under the Malaysian Agreement 1963.
“They cannot just ‘wash their hands’ of the part they played in the implementation of these taxes. The fact is their continued support for the BN government is what continues to empower BN to implement all these taxes to cover up the wastage and bad governance all these years,” Yii pointed out.
He said the new tourism tax, on top of GST, would affect not just the tourism industry but also the end-users in the state.
Industry leaders have objected to the tax as well, as it is an unfair implementation, especially players not registered with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac). On top of that, locals and not just tourists are affected by it. Many campaigns including ‘Cuti-Cuti Malaysia’ are meant to encourage locals to travel within Malaysia, not only to enjoy the beautiful local sights but also to boost the local economy.
“Now locals would be burdened by the increasing taxes on tourism, which might lead to a decline in frequency of travels and thus, affect the local economy. Locals are further burdened by more taxes on top of the ever-increasing cost of living,” Yii said.
“The ever increasing taxes introduced by the BN government just show how the national coffers are drying up, and they are finding all ways to squeeze revenues from the people and local industries.”