Malaysia

Individual - Taxes on personal income

Last reviewed - 13 December 2024

An individual, whether tax resident or non-resident in Malaysia, is taxed on any income accruing in or derived from Malaysia. Resident individuals are also subject to tax on foreign-sourced income received in Malaysia (see the Income determination section).

Personal income tax rates

The following rates are applicable to resident individual taxpayers for year of assessment 2023 onwards:

Taxable income (MYR) Tax on column 1 (MYR) Tax on excess (%)
Over Not over
5,000 20,000 0 1
20,000 35,000 150 3
35,000 50,000 600 6
50,000 70,000 1,500 11
70,000 100,000 3,700 19
100,000 400,000 9,400 25
400,000 600,000 84,400 26
600,000 2,000,000 136,400 28
2,000,000 528,400 30

A non-resident individual is taxed at a flat rate of 30% on total taxable income.

A qualified person (defined) who is a knowledge worker residing in Iskandar Malaysia is taxed at the rate of 15% on income from an employment with a designated company engaged in a qualified activity in that specified region.

An approved resident individual under the Returning Expert Programme having or exercising employment with a person in Malaysia would also enjoy a tax rate of 15% for five years on income from an employment.

A qualified person (defined) who is holding a key position (C-Suite) is taxed at the rate of 15% on income from employment with a company that has been granted a relocation tax incentive under the PENJANA initiative. 

It is proposed that individual knowledge workers (including Malaysians) working in the Forest City Special Financial Zone (see the Tax credits and incentives section in the Corporate tax summary) are taxed at the rate of 15% on employment income.

Local income taxes

There are no local taxes on personal income in Malaysia.