The 15 percent entertainment duty waiver from the Selangor government for the year 2022 is only a stopgap measure for the remaining eight months, said a group of performing artists.
Instead, they urged the relevant authorities to hold an immediate engagement session with members of the arts community to find a permanent solution.
“While the announcement from the (Selangor) menteri besar provides some welcome temporary relief, all it really does is defer the problem to a later date.
“In effect, what this announcement does is tell artists in Selangor that they have eight months left to move their shows to Kuala Lumpur.
“We, the undersigned, call for the state to have an immediate formal engagement session with members of the arts community, relevant excos and representatives of local councils to find a permanent solution to this, so we don’t have to go through this all over again in December,” said the artistes in a statement today.
The statement was co-signed by performing artists Brian Gomez, Kavin Jay, Azmyl Yunor, Farez Jinnah, Darren Teh, June Tan and Mak Wai Hoo.
The group also said that they hope the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) will follow suit in waiving the licence fees for 2022, now that the tax for live performance has been waived in Selangor.
“This is clearly the right thing to do as live performances have been banned for two years, therefore the licence waiver should be for two years as well,” they said.
Earlier today, the Selangor government had announced that it would waive the 15 percent entertainment duty for the year 2022, following an outcry from performing artists and venue owners.
Entertainers had previously condemned the duties as oppressive, particularly when the industry was just reopening after a long Covid-19 lockdown on entertainment activities.
Selangor Menteri Besar Amiruddin Shaari had also explained last year that the 15 percent entertainment duty is actually a reduction from the original 25 percent rate. - Mkini
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