All about taxes for expats in Malaysia

Hello Everyone,
             I am Myanmar citizens, who is currently living in UK . For waiting to come to Malaysia and join with my British boyfriend who is working in Johor Bahru. If I get my travel pass approval should I still need to apply visa to come in. We are unmarried copious try to apply long term social visit pass. But every step we try got red flags and working out at all. We are quite stressed about the whole process. Thank you for all your advice and time.

Hi All,

I have done taxes twice already (time flies!) and I have filed them myself on the Government (EZHasil) website. It is not too difficult and you have English forms available.

You must go in person to register to be able to use the Web from then on (unless the lockdown changed this). Afterward, you can submit everything on the Website.

Just one thing to keep in mind. Because of the rather quirky laws on getting tax resident status, unless you start working in the first half of the year, you will do your first filing as a non-tax resident and get a very high tax rate. Then, the following year in July, your company can give you a certificate, which you must accompany with some other forms (like a full list of trips outside Malaysia, a copy of all pages of passport, etc) and you submit a tax refund form. Some 3-4 months later you get your refund deposited in the bank.

I find that the whole process (declare/pay/refund) is not complex, but it may be laborious.

Hope that helps!

Hi everyone

Can someone please tell me, if I am on the SMM2H program and receive my income thru my investments abroad, will I have to pay income tax in Malaysia?  The income is mostly from savings.

Thank you
Johan

HI HOW LONG  WILL IT TAKE TO CLEAR TAX FOR AN EXPERIATE..?

it should be 14 working days. once you submit all your documents to you LHDN branch, they will process your tax clearance and will let your company know when they can release your final pay.

Diksha wrote:

Hi everyone,

Taxation is an important subject, especially when you are an expatriate in Malaysia. We would like to know what you think about the tax system in your host country. This could be helpful to other people preparing for expatriation in Malaysia.

How to do your tax return in Malaysia? Are there different steps beforehand and if so, what are they?

Is it easy or did you have to get help to complete it?

Are there any important elements that should be taken into account when doing your tax return in Malaysia?

If you are self-employed, do you need an accountant to do your tax return?

Is there a non-double taxation agreement with your home country? In any case, do you have to pay taxes there as well?

Thanks for your contribution!

Diksha,
Expat.com team

- I filed my return in my LHDN branch. But since COVID happened, I've been filing online. You need you forms - EA and PCB, before you could file.

- Filing at the branch or online are quite simple and straightforward.

- For those who will receive refund, it's better to go to your branch. The officers will ask for support, copy of passport - for 183 days stay in Malaysia.

- I'm from PH. Foreign workers are exempted from tax filing in my country.