*ENTERTAINMENTS DUTY ACT 1953

a spectator;

one of an audience; or

a user of an entertainment facility;

“admission to an entertainment” includes admission to any place in which an entertainment is held or any other place from which a person would be able to be a spectator or one of the audience of an entertainment, and also includes being given the right to use an entertainment facility;

“collector” includes a deputy to the collector;

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“entertainment” includes any exhibition, performance, amusement, game or sport, or any other activity as may be declared to be entertainment by the Minister of Finance under subsection (2), to which persons are admitted for payment;

“expenses of the entertainment” includes expenses of all kinds incurred in connection with the entertainment or its side-shows;

“payment for admission” includes any payment made by a person who having been admitted to one part of a place of entertainment is subsequently admitted to another part thereof for admission to which a payment or a further payment involving duty is required and includes any payment which gives a person a right to be admitted whether such right is or is not exercised;

“proprietor” in relation to any entertainment includes any person responsible for the management thereof and, in relation to any place from which in the opinion of the Collector a person would be able to be a spectator or one of the audience of an entertainment in progress in some other place, includes the owner, tenant or person in possession or control of the place, or any other person who receives payment for admission to the place;

“takings of the entertainment” includes not only all money taken for admission but also all takings from any source whatever in connection with the entertainment.

The Minister of Finance may, from time to time, by order published in the Gazette, declare any activity to which a person is admitted for payment to be an entertainment.

Collector of Entertainments Duty

The Minister of Finance may appoint a deputy or deputies to the

Collector either generally for the purposes of this Act or of any regulations made thereunder or for the purposes of particular provisions of the Act or for the purposes of particular regulations made under this Act.

Duties

Entertainments duty at the rate of one-half of the rate prescribed in accordance with subsection (1) shall be charged, levied and paid to the Collector upon every payment for admission to any entertainment in which all the performers whose words or actions constitute the entertainment are actually present and performing and the entertainment consists solely of one or more of the following items, namely, a stage play, a ballet (whether a stage play or not), a performance of music

(whether vocal or instrumental), a lecture, a recitation, a music hall or other variety entertainment, a circus, a travelling show or a menagerie or any game of sport other than racing or trial of speed of animals, vehicles, motor vessels or aircraft.

The Collector may in his discretion accept in respect of any entertainment a lump sum by way of composition for and in lieu of entertainments duty in any case where by reason of the smallness of the sum likely to be payable, or of difficulty in computing the sum, he deems it expedient to do so.

Collector

that any payment other than or in addition to any payment on admission (upon which duty is payable under this Act)

has been required or accepted by the proprietor of any entertainment from any person;

that the amount of any such payment is in excess of that which would ordinarily have been paid for any thing, privilege, right or purpose other than the enjoyment of the entertainment obtained in return for the payment; and

that any such payment was in effect in whole or in part a payment or reward for the right or opportunity of any person to enjoy the entertainment, he may give notice in writing to the proprietor of the entertainment of his finding and thereupon any such payment or such proportion thereof as is mentioned in the notice shall be deemed to be for the purposes of this Act payment for admission to the entertainment and entertainments

Entertainments Duty 9

duty shall be charged, levied and paid thereon either in accordance with subsection 4(4) or otherwise as the Collector may by that notice require.

Any person aggrieved by any finding of the Collector under subsection (1) may, within twenty-eight days from the date of the giving to him by the Collector of written notice of the finding, appeal on any question of law or fact to a Sessions Court or, in Sabah and

Sarawak to the Court of a Magistrate of the First Class.

There shall be such further right of appeal from a Sessions Court under this section as exists in the case of decisions made by such Court in the exercise of its original civil jurisdiction.

There shall be no further right of appeal from a decision of the

High Court on appeal under this section.

For the purpose of this section it shall be presumed until the contrary is proved by the proprietor of the entertainment that where any payment has been required or accepted by the proprietor from any person and the payment is in excess of that which would ordinarily have been paid for any thing, privilege, right or purpose other than the enjoyment of the entertainment obtained in return for that payment, then the payment or such part thereof as is so in excess was a payment or reward for the right or opportunity of a person to enjoy the entertainment.

The Subordinate Courts Rules Committee may make rules regulating and prescribing the procedure in proceedings by way of appeal under subsection (2) including the manner in which evidence shall be taken on the appeal and providing for the costs of those proceedings.

Payment of duty, how made

Unless otherwise provided, if any person is admitted on payment to an entertainment and the provisions of this Act are not complied with, the proprietor of the entertainment to which he is admitted shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.

Duty chargeable in respect of each person

as a subscription or contribution to any club, association or society;

for a season ticket; or

for the right of admission to a series of entertainments or to any entertainment during a certain period of time,

Entertainments Duty 11

the entertainments duty shall be paid on such portion of that lump sum as together with the entertainments duty appropriate to such portion amounts in the aggregate to that lump sum.

If the Collector is of opinion that the payment of a lump sum or of any payment for a ticket includes other privileges, rights or purposes besides the admission to an entertainment, or covers admission to an entertainment during any period for which duty has not been in operation, the duty shall be charged on such amount as appears to the

Collector to represent the right of admission to entertainments in respect of which entertainments duty is payable.

Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Collector under subsection (2) shall have the same right of appeal as is possessed by an aggrieved person under subsection 5(2) and subsections 5(3), (4) and (6)

shall apply to any appeal under this subsection.

Exemption from duty for charities, etc.

the whole of the takings of an entertainment are to be devoted to philanthropic or charitable purposes whether in

Malaysia or elsewhere without any charge on the takings or upon any funds belonging to or controlled by or on behalf of any charitable or philanthropic organization or body for any expenses incurred in connection with the entertainment;

a Director of Education certifies in writing that the entertainment is to be held for educational purposes and that the audience will be restricted to persons who are receiving whole-time education at a recognized educational establishment and to the tutorial staff of that establishment; or

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the entertainment is provided by a society which is not established or conducted for profit, and consists solely of an exhibition—

of the products of an industry, or of materials, machinery, appliances, or foodstuffs used in the production of those products, or displays of skill by workers in the industry in work pertaining to the industry;

notice of claim to exemption from entertainments duty as above shall have been given to the Collector not less than fourteen days before the commencement of the entertainment; and

the Collector after taking such statements and making such enquiries as he sees fit shall have granted to the proprietor a certificate of exemption from payment of entertainments duty.

Entertainments Duty 13

The Collector may in granting his certificate under subsection (1)

impose such conditions written on the certificate as he thinks fit and any breach of those conditions shall be deemed to have invalidated the certificate as if the same had never been granted.

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c)—

"agriculture" includes horticulture and live stock breeding;

"industry" includes a branch of an industry and includes agriculture;

"live stock" includes animals of any description;

"society" includes a company, institution or other association of persons by whatever name called.

Repayments

any class of entertainments; and

*NOTE—All exemption orders purported to have been made under subsection 12(1) during the period between 3 May 1982 and the date of commencement of the Entertainments Duty (Amendment) Act 1991

[Act A800] are hereby validated and deemed to have been lawfully made, and all entertainments exempted from the payment of entertainments duty under such orders are hereby deemed to have been lawfully exempted pursuant to subsection 12(1) of this Act as amended by subsection 2(1) of Act A800, as if the said subsection 2(I) of Act A800 had been in force when the orders were made and Act A800 the entertainments were exempted.

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in respect of the Federal Territories, any entertainment, from the payment of entertainments duty.

The State Authority may by order exempt, subject to such conditions as it may deem fit, any entertainment from the payment of the whole or any part of entertainments duty.

The Collector may exempt subject to such conditions as he may deem fit, any entertainment in respect of which the total amount of entertainments duty payable will not in his opinion exceed two thousand ringgit from the payment of the said duty.

Powers of entry and investigation

Any person who obstructs the Collector or any officer or authorized person lawfully exercising any powers conferred on him by or under subsection (1) in entering or inspecting any place or delays to produce any books, accounts or other documents or things which he has been called upon by the Collector or the said officer or authorized person to produce and which are or ought to be in the ordinary course of business in his power to produce or who refuses to furnish any information which he may be required to furnish by any regulation or which may reasonably be required by the Collector or the said officer

Entertainments Duty 15

or authorized person or who being required to furnish information by the Collector or the said officer or authorized person furnishes false or misleading information shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.

Search

Every person so arrested shall be taken to a police station and shall thereafter be dealt with as if he had been arrested under section 24

of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Powers of seizure

If any books, documents or papers which are in evidence or liable to inspection in any civil or criminal proceeding whatsoever contain any entry in which any informer is named or described, or which might lead to his discovery, the Court before which the proceeding is had shall cause all such passages to be concealed from view so far as is necessary to protect the informer from discovery, but no further.

If on the trial for any offence under this Act the Court, after full inquiry into the case, believes that the informer wilfully made in his complaint a material statement which he knew or believed to be false or

Entertainments Duty 17

did not believe to be true, or if in any other proceeding the Court is of opinion that justice cannot be fully done between the parties thereto without the discovery of the informer, the Court may require the production of the original complaint, if in writing, and permit inquiry and require full disclosure concerning the informer.

Penalties

When any person convicted of an offence under this Act is the proprietor of an entertainment and the Court convicting the person is of opinion that by reason of the offence any duty which ought to have been paid has not been paid or that the offence was committed with a view to the evasion of that duty the person shall also be liable to a fine of ten times the amount of the duty.

Any person admitted to any entertainment who is guilty of an offence under this Act shall when no other penalty has been specifically provided therefor be liable, on conviction, to a fine of six hundred ringgit.

The Sessions Court Judge or the Magistrate who convicts any person of any offence against this Act may cancel any licence granted to that person under any written law relating to theatres or places of public amusement for the time being in force in Malaysia or any part thereof or may debar the person from holding any such licence for any period specified not exceeding two years, in addition to any other penalty imposed.

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Action of officers no offence

to secure the payment of entertainments duty;

to regulate the payment of entertainments duty and to make provision for the prevention of evasion of entertainments duty;

to provide for the supply and use of stamps or stamped tickets or for the stamping of tickets and for the defacement of stamps when used;

to regulate the use of tickets of admission and the calculation of the duty thereon;

to control the use of barriers or mechanical contrivances and to secure proper records of admission by means of barriers or mechanical contrivances;

generally to carry into effect the provisions of this Act;

Entertainments Duty 19

to declare that any act or omission in contravention of any regulation shall be an offence against this Act and prescribe penalties therefor:

Provided that no such penalty shall exceed the maximum penalties prescribed by section 20.

Any regulations made under this Act shall be laid before the

Dewan Rakyat.

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Act 103

LIST OF AMENDMENTS

Amending law

Short title

In force from

L.N. 113/1956

Minister of Finance Order 1956 02-04-1956

L.N. 332/1958

Federal Constitution (Modification of

Laws) (Ordinance and Proclamations)

Order 1958 13-11-1958

P.U. (A) 42/1973

Entertainments Duty Ordinance

(Extension) Order 1973 01-04-1973

Act 160

Malaysian Currency (Ringgit) Act 1975 29-08-1975

Act A324

Criminal Procedure Code

(Amendment and Extension) Act 1976 10-01-1976

P.U. (A) 357/1980

Subordinates Courts Act (Extension)

Order 1980 01-06-1981

Act A800

Entertainments Duty (Amendment) Act 1991 12-04-1991

Act A1122

Entertainments Duty (Amendment) Act 1991 01-10-2001

Act 851

Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 30-12-2023

21

Act 103

LIST OF SECTIONS AMENDED

Section

Amending authority

In force from

2

3

11

12

Act 160

Act A800

Act A1122

29-08-1975 12-04-1991 01-10-2001 18

Act 160

Act A1122 29-08-1975 01-10-2001

20

Act 160

Act A1122 29-08-1975 01-10-2001

23

Act 851

30-12-2023