From August 1, 2017, Malaysia will start imposting tourism tax on individuals who are staying in booked accommodations.

According to Channel NewsAsia, the tax applies on a per room/per night basis (as opposed to per person/per night basis). Levies start from RM2.50/room/night for non-rated accommodations and go up to RM20/room/night for five-star accommodations.

Places that are exempted from the tourism tax include the following:

- registered homestays and Kampung stays under the ministry,

- non-commercial premises maintained by religious and educational institutions,

- facilities for training, and

- accommodations with less than 10 rooms.

Here's an informative tweet on the charges:

Welcome tourist tax!! ??? love Malaysia
# pic.twitter.com/mCM0fLJlyP

— Mo Amer (@Amirrul_Nasr) June 6, 2017

In case you can't see it, here are screenshots:

Funnily enough, local media reported that even Malaysians will be charged, as long as they are not staying in any of the above-mentioned premises (i.e. a Malaysian on a staycation might have to pay a nightly tax on his/her stay).

The bill was passed on Apr. 6 this year after a 20-hour parliament session.

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Top image from Flickr user aamanatullah.

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