Malaysia Corporate Tax Rate 2019: Businesses Need to Know

It is Necessary to Be Aware of the Malaysia Corporate Tax Rate 2019 Because It is a Factor in the Success of Your Business

The corporate tax rate in Malaysia is collected from companies. The amount from this is based on the total income that companies obtain while having a business activity every year. The benchmark used pertains to the highest Corporate Income rate. The revenue from the tax rate is a major source of income in Malaysia. This page has actual values, forecast, historical data, economic data, statistics, chart, news, and an economic calendar.

General Overview

In Malaysia, the basis of company taxes is the tax territorial system. It is the one that imposes the taxes on people and businesses on all income ranges that are earned within the borders of Malaysia. Therefore, the companies can be assessed on any income level they are in. The income that was derived from remittance or abroad in Malaysia is exempted from taxes. Companies that are in air transport, insurance, banking, or sea transport are not exempted. In addition, domestic dividends are also exempted from taxes.

The company’s taxable income is the only that is subject to taxes. The taxable income includes all the earnings that were derived from Malaysia. The taxable income profits from a business or trade, rent, premiums, dividends, interest, royalties, or other earnings.

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The corporations in Malaysia follow a single-tier system, which is being used since 2008. The corporate income gets taxed if it is corporate based on the system. The tax that a company pays is known as final tax. Nothing is to be deducted from the dividends credited, distributed, or paid to the shareholders. Instead, the dividends are exempted from taxes once the shareholders receive them. They are also not required to use tracking mechanisms under the single-tier system.

In case a company has paid their foreign tax, it may be deducted from the Malaysian tax based on the same earnings, but it is limited to 50% foreign tax. The tax credit from foreign territories is limited to the Malaysian tax amount that is paid by the foreign income.

The Incentives from Tax deductions Under the Law

Generally, the expenses and outgoing amounts that deal with income-production are deductible. For instance, employees’ salary, premises rental, advertisement costs, insurance, etc. But there are costs that are not deductible. These range from startup costs, bad debts, to first paintings of premises and customer entertainment.
The company taxation in their country is offering a tax bouquet of incentives that certain businesses can also have. Industries like hotels, manufacturing, healthcare, IT services, Islamic finance biotechnology, venture capital, tourism, energy conservation, protection for the environment have incentives of up to 10 years. They also have an extra allowance, and double deductions on the capital expenditure they have incurred.
Malaysia Corporate Tax Rate 2019: Businesses Need to Know

How Businesses Can Prepare for Taxes

Foreign businesses should do an assessment of their services in Malaysia. It is to figure out which category their services are going to fall under. For instance, those that provide digital content such as music, e-books, videos, storage subscription, cloud computing, software, or online services are under digital services.

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In addition, foreign businesses that are expected to meet the mandatory registration in 2020 should have registered with the RMCD on or before September 31, 2019.

Foreign investors should take into consideration the steps needed to implement the new service tax regime whether the internal systems have to be updated for the new tax program. This is necessary to make sure that they can comply with legal obligations under the STA on January 1, 2020. For example, foreign businesses need to have a proper system to trace the transactions that are caught under this business regime. This is to ensure that the service tax can accordingly be remitted to the RMCD after collection.

Tax Compliance

The consolidated returns do not follow the current tax laws in Malaysia. Every company needs to follow its own tax return, but group relief is allowed in certain instances. Group relief means the tax resident company may relinquish a maximum of 70% of adjusted losses in the present YA to at least one company, which are also tax resident companies. Companies are expected to be related if in case 70% of their paid-up capital is owned by a claimant company or vice versa whether directly or indirectly. It could also be that at least 70% of the surrendering company’s paid-up capital is owned by a tax resident company, which could be direct or indirect ownership.

The corporate tax system of Malaysia has a self-assessment regime. The information that a taxpayer provides to tax authorities after submitting a tax return or other forms will be considered true by tax authorities unless it is not proven. The advance corporate tax should be paid in 12 monthly instalments. Then they should file a tax return during the 7 months of the due date. That date is when their financial year ends.

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If a taxpayer has any questions about anything tax-related, the taxpayer may request for an advance ruling from Malaysia’s tax authorities. The advance ruling objectives are created to increase tax compliance and lessen disputes between the IRB and taxpayers. The person is bounded by the advance ruling in relation to the arrangement for the YA or a specified period.

You should take note of the corporate tax rate in Malaysia before you venture into any business in the country because it is crucial. It will also tell you how much your profit is going to be after taxes.