According to the Malaysian Hotel Association of Hotels (MAH), hotels in Melaka have been consistently paying the heritage taxes demanded by the state government. MAH Melaka chapter chairman Khairulnizam Kasim stated that none of its members had defaulted on settling the taxes since it was imposed in 2017.
To avoid receiving notices from local authorities, hotels are committed to making bi-monthly payments on time. Additionally, defaulting on payment could lead to a negative impact on hotel star ratings, as noted by Khairulnizam in an interview on Thursday (Nov 30).
Khairulnizam emphasized the strict checklist for star rating classification enforced by the Tourism Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac). He also mentioned that representatives from local councils play a role in awarding this status.
Before awarding the star rating, Motac’s checklist thoroughly reviews various aspects including hotel’s compliance with heritage taxes. Hotels are informed to promptly settle these taxes to prevent the loss of their star status
Khairulnizam’s comments were in response to an allegation against hoteliers for defaulting on heritage tax payments, based on the recent Auditor-General’s Report. The report revealed that local authorities in Melaka failed to collect heritage charges from hotel operators, resulting in a loss of RM498,708 in revenue.
The Heritage Charge System’s User Guide mandates hotel operators to declare the number of rented rooms and make payments to local authorities every two months. However, the audit report unveiled disparities between the amount of heritage charges declared by hotel operators and the total paid to the three councils.
According to the report, there were inaccuracies in the calculation of heritage charges paid to local authorities, with MPTHJ paying only 60% of the collected monies to the state government. The difference in collections resulted in RM31,905 being unpaid to the state government.
It is evident that local authorities need to improve their handling of heritage charge collections from hotel operators to prevent substantial revenue losses in the future.
