Last updated: June 2026
If you run a tour or activity business in Malaysia, you've probably seen "tourism tax" on hotel bills and wondered whether you're supposed to charge it too. Short answer for most tour operators: no. But it's worth understanding, because the rules catch out anyone who also provides accommodation — and your international guests will ask you about it. Here's the plain-English version.
A quick note: tax rules change, and the details can vary by state. This is current as of 2026 and based on guidance from the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD), but always confirm your own obligations with RMCD or a tax advisor.
What is the tourism tax in Malaysia?
Malaysia's tourism tax (TTx) is a flat RM10 per room, per night charged to foreign guests staying at registered accommodation, collected by the accommodation operator and paid to the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD). It's been in place since September 2017 and funds tourism marketing and infrastructure.
The key word is accommodation. The tax is tied to staying overnight in a registered premises — hotels, resorts, serviced apartments, guesthouses, homestays — not to tours, activities, or experiences.
Who pays the tourism tax?
Only foreign passport holders pay the tourism tax. Malaysian citizens and permanent residents are fully exempt, at every type of accommodation from budget to five-star.
The charge is strictly per room, per night — not per person. A family of four sharing one room pays RM10 a night, not RM40. Two rooms for three nights is RM10 × 2 × 3 = RM60. It applies regardless of nationality among foreigners (there are no Visit Malaysia 2026 waivers for foreign visitors), and it's generally non-refundable once the stay has taken place.
Does the tourism tax apply to my tour business?
If you only run tours and activities — and don't provide accommodation — you generally do not collect the tourism tax. It's an accommodation tax, so a day-tour, ATV trail, cooking class, or charter operator without lodging usually falls outside it entirely.
You're brought into scope mainly if you also offer somewhere to stay. A few situations to watch:
- You run accommodation alongside your tours (a homestay, lodge, or guesthouse as part of your offering): then the tourism tax can apply to your foreign guests, and you may need to register.
- The small-premises exemption: operators of accommodation with fewer than five rooms have generally been exempt — but note that this exemption does not apply when the booking is made through an online platform (an OTA like Agoda or Booking.com), which collects the tax regardless.
- Registration threshold: broadly, accommodation operators with five rooms or more are liable to register for tourism tax with RMCD. If you're unsure, check with RMCD directly.
If you're a pure experience operator, the practical takeaway is simple: you don't charge tourism tax on your tours, but your guests will pay it at their hotel, so it's helpful to be able to explain it when they ask.
The grey areas: when a tour operator does get pulled in
Most tour operators are clearly out of scope, but a few common setups blur the line. Here's how to think about the ones that actually come up:
- Multi-day tours where you arrange the hotel. If you sell a package and the guest's accommodation is just booked through a hotel that handles its own tourism tax, you're not the one collecting it — the hotel is. You don't become a tax collector by including a hotel night in your itinerary. But if the booking flows through you in a way where you're the accommodation provider of record, check with RMCD.
- You run your own lodge, glamping site, or homestay as part of the experience. This is the clearest "yes." The moment you are the one providing the room — a jungle lodge on your trek, a beachfront chalet for your dive trips, glamping on your tour — you're an accommodation provider for tourism-tax purposes, and the RM10 per room per night can apply to your foreign guests. The under-five-rooms exemption may help, but not if you take those bookings through an OTA.
- Day tours, transfers, and activities with no overnight stay. Always out of scope. No room, no tourism tax. This is the vast majority of tour and activity operators.
If your setup sits in the grey zone, the safe move is a quick check with RMCD or a tax advisor rather than guessing — getting registration wrong (in either direction) is the costly mistake.
How is the tourism tax collected and paid?
Accommodation operators who are registered collect the RM10 per room per night from foreign guests, then report and remit it to RMCD through the MyTTx online portal. Returns are filed periodically (commonly monthly or quarterly depending on the operator), with payment made online.
Where a guest books through an online travel platform that collects the tax at checkout, the platform remits it and the accommodation shouldn't charge it again — provided the guest can show proof of payment. This split between platform-collected and property-collected tax is the part that most often causes double-charging confusion, so registered operators should always check whether TTx was already paid online before collecting it at check-in.
A note on other state-level fees
The federal tourism tax isn't the only charge your guests may see. Several states and localities add their own accommodation fees — for example heritage fees in Melaka and Penang, a Langkawi tourism promotion fee, and newer sustainability fees such as the Selangor Sustainability Fee introduced from January 2026. These are separate from the federal RM10 TTx and are set locally. If you provide accommodation, check what applies in your state; if you only run tours, these generally don't fall on you either.
What this means for taking bookings
For most tour and activity operators, the tourism tax simply isn't something you collect — your job is to run great experiences and make them easy to book. When you do take bookings, the fees that matter are your own booking costs, and that's where keeping things lean helps.
Kong is free booking software for tour and activity operators — no monthly fee, no setup fee, and no per-booking fee for you. Guests pay just 1.8% at checkout on online bookings, and walk-in, phone and WhatsApp bookings are free. You get a real booking page, capacity limits per session, deposits, and automatic confirmations, so you can focus on the experience rather than the admin.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the tourism tax in Malaysia?
- Malaysia's tourism tax (TTx) is a flat RM10 per room, per night charged to foreign guests staying at registered accommodation. It's collected by the accommodation operator and remitted to the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD). It has applied since September 2017.
- How much is the tourism tax in Malaysia?
- RM10 per room, per night. It's charged per room, not per person — so a family sharing one room pays RM10 a night, and two rooms for three nights would be RM60 total.
- Who has to pay the tourism tax?
- Only foreign passport holders pay it. Malaysian citizens and permanent residents are fully exempt at all types of accommodation.
- Does a tour operator need to charge tourism tax?
- Generally no. The tourism tax is an accommodation tax. If you only run tours and activities without providing lodging, you don't collect it. You're mainly brought into scope if you also offer accommodation (such as a homestay or lodge).
- Do I need to register for tourism tax?
- Accommodation operators with five rooms or more are broadly liable to register with RMCD. Smaller premises have generally been exempt, except where bookings are made through an online platform that collects the tax. If you provide accommodation and are unsure, confirm with RMCD.
- Is the tourism tax the same across all of Malaysia?
- The federal RM10 TTx applies nationwide, but several states and localities add their own separate accommodation fees (for example heritage fees in Melaka and Penang, a Langkawi promotion fee, and the Selangor Sustainability Fee from 2026). These are separate from the federal tourism tax.