MATTA urges the govt to review

Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) urged the Government to review the Service Tax (Amendment) Regulations 2018 issued by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department on tourism management services that was imposed from March 1 (yesterday).

“The decision taken by Customs to include tourism management services as one of the taxable services on Jan 1 is fundamentally flawed and will create serious adverse implications to the tourism industry, especially when the treatment details and mechanism of reporting are unclear,” its President Datuk Tan Kok Liang said, Friday.

Under the service tax model introduced in September 2018, he said the tours and travel industry was not included in the scope.

“When the previous Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime was introduced, the industry was given ample time to make preparations whereas this sudden announcement has left the industry floundering and confused,” Tan said.