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Thursday, November 20, 2008, 06.38 PM

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Sales tax: Patrons still made to pay

N.E.J., Kuala Lumpur
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Although the threshold for sales revenue has been revised, it is a common practice among restaurants in both Johor Baru and the Klang Valley to collect their five per cent sales tax even when they are no longer supposed to.

For a restaurant that has an annual turnover of RM1 million, this will come to quite a substantial amount. To be precise, an additional RM50,000 every year.

I had an experience at a bistro in Sunway Mentari where my wife and I were about to order our food. When I noticed that it was printed on the menu that there was a five per cent sales tax, I asked for an explanation.

The manager initially claimed he was not aware of the latest announcement.

But a little later, he admitted he had seen the announcement in the newspapers but claimed he had not received any circular from the government.

I hope the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry will send out its enforcement units to check on restaurants and provide a hotline to enable the public to lodge their complaints.