Malaysia is one of the top destinations for expats thanks to its low cost of living, high-quality healthcare, stunning natural beauty, and multicultural society.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about relocating to Malaysia from a personal tax perspective, including tax residency, income tax, special tax regimes and tax return obligations.
TaxPilot recommend that you organize your affairs in good time to get ahead and make the most of favorable tax treatment while making sure you’re meeting your tax return obligations.
Malaysia follows a residence taxation model. If you are resident, you will pay tax worldwide incomes. If you are non-resident, you will pay tax on local incomes only.
if you spend more than 181 days in Malaysia during the tax year.
Tax on property and share sales
Tax on value of owned assets
Tax on assets passed to heirs
Tax to contribute to state welfare
If you receive incomes overseas while you are living in Malaysia, you may find the source country, as a starting point, continues to tax the income which may cause double taxation unless you are using special tax regime.
Double taxation agreements can be used to mitigate double taxation and receive tax free income. As such, the more double taxation agreements a country has, the better, as agreements will ensure you’re not taxed twice and even better, ensure your income is tax free.
At present, Malaysia has 78 double taxation agreements signed.
