City Hall: Assessment fees, business licences exempted from tax

KUALA LUMPUR - Assessment fees and business licences issued by City Hall are not subjected to the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Also exempted are dog licences, hawkers' permits, rentals of People's Housing Project (PPR) units and public housing, sales of City Hall's housing projects and service charges by management committees (high-rise buildings).

Water bill for public housing flats meanwhile, is listed as zero-rated.

However, rental of facilities maintained by City Hall, such as multi-purpose halls, community centres, fields, courts, stadiums and auditoriums, rental of trading lots by traders and hawkers, purchase of tender documents and parking charges are subjected to the new tax.

City Hall, in a statement, said entrance feed to swimming pools, fees for horse riding at public parks, public toilets, gymnasiums, trams, orchid park, PPR and public housing flats applications and shuttle service at public parks remained the same as GST was already included.

Meanwhile, Ampang Jaya Municipal Council Secretary Hasrolnizam Shaari said the assessment and licence fees issued by the council were exempted from GST.

"The facilities rented to the public, including halls and football fields, and permits for displays of buntings are, however, subjected to GST," he said, adding that the council was looking at imposing GST on the appointment contractors in the future.

"However, contracts signed before April 1 are not affected.

"We are also finalising other services that are subjected to the new tax system.

"We will announce our decision in our next full board meeting at the end of the month."

Klang Municipal Council president Datuk Mohammad Yacob said GST was already included for parking fees and coupons in the municipality.

"The tax is already included in the price of the coupons.

"Parking operators, however, are requires to register with the Customs Department and furnish their GST identification number to allow the council to redeem the input tax from the department.

"The rental for public facilities, like halls and football fields, as well as hawker's food stalls maintained by the council subjected to GST."

Yacob said all local councils and government statutory bodies were required to register with Customs for the implementation of GST.

Shah Alam City council Corporate and community development department assistant director Shahrin Ahmad said employees and officers who dealt directly with rate payers, especially those manning the counters, were sent for a course prior to the implementation of GST.

"A billboard was erected in Section 3 to inform the public on GST's implementation and they can contact us for inquiries.

"Apart from our facilities rented to the public, submission of planning permission and building plan documents are taxed."

For instance, he said if the rental of multi-purpose hall was previously RM300, it was now RM318, and a two-hour session at a badminton court (open from 9am to 5pm), which was previously RM10, was now RM16.95.