Stamp Duty in Malaysia 2026: LHDN Stamping Guide for Companies — Which Documents Need Stamping, Rates for Tenancy, Employment, Share-Transfer, Loan and Service Agreements, Self-Assessment (STSDS) on MyTax, the 4%/8% Foreign-Buyer Duty, Budget 2027 Changes and the Penalty Waiver Ending 31 December 2026

Stamp duty is the tax foreign companies in Malaysia forget until a document bounces. It is not a big-ticket tax like corporate income tax, but it attaches to the everyday paperwork of doing business: the tenancy for your office, employment contracts, the loan that funds your factory, the transfer of shares when an investor joins, the purchase of property. Get it wrong and the consequences are quietly severe: an unstamped instrument is not admissible as evidence in a Malaysian court, so the contract you rely on cannot be enforced until duty and penalty are paid. And from 1 January 2026, Malaysia moved from officer-assessed stamping to a Stamp Duty Self-Assessment System (STSDS), shifting the burden of getting it right onto you. This guide explains which documents need LHDN stamping, the rates that matter for a foreign-owned business, how to stamp on MyTax, the 2026 penalty waiver that ends on 31 December, and what Budget 2027 changes.

Quick answer (as of October 2026): In Malaysia, "LHDN stamping" means paying stamp duty under the Stamp Act 1949 on a written instrument, through LHDN's e-Duti Setem service on MyTax (the old STAMPS portal closed at the end of 2025). The documents a company most often needs to stamp are tenancy agreements (RM1–RM7 per RM250 of annual rent, depending on term), employment contracts (RM10, exempt if monthly wages are RM3,000 or less), share transfers (0.3% of the higher of price or NTA), loan agreements (generally 0.5%) and service agreements (0.5%, remitted to 0.1% for one-tier contracts). Stamp within 30 days of signing. Since 1 January 2026 tenancies, share transfers and general documents are self-assessed, and LHDN waives late-stamping penalties on these Phase 1 documents only until 31 December 2026. Our LHDN stamping service for company documents handles the computation, filing and payment.

What stamp duty is, and why it is not optional

Stamp duty is a tax on instruments, meaning written legal documents, not on transactions in the abstract. It is governed by the Stamp Act 1949 and administered by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN / Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri), the same authority that runs income tax. If a document is listed in the First Schedule to the Act, it must be stamped. The rule that gives stamp duty its teeth is evidentiary: an instrument that is not properly stamped cannot be admitted in evidence in court, nor acted on by a public officer. In practice a lender cannot enforce an unstamped loan agreement, a landlord cannot rely on an unstamped tenancy, and a buyer cannot register a property transfer without the stamped Memorandum of Transfer.

There are two broad types of duty. Ad valorem duty is a percentage of value: the transfer of property or shares, the amount of a loan, the value of services. Fixed duty is a flat amount regardless of value; a general agreement not otherwise specified in the Schedule attracts RM10, which is also the minimum duty on any dutiable instrument. Knowing which category your document falls into is most of the work, because ad valorem duty on a large property or financing can run into tens of thousands of ringgit, while a fixed-duty document costs RM10.

What documents need to be stamped in Malaysia: a company checklist

Most foreign-owned companies sign the same handful of stampable documents in their first two years. The table below lists them with the current rate. Rates are from the Stamp Act First Schedule and the remission orders in force as of October 2026.

Two of these trip up new companies most often. The first is the employment contract: LHDN stated in June 2025 that employment contracts executed from 1 January 2026 must be stamped, at RM10 under Item 4 of the First Schedule, and that late stamping would attract penalties. Contracts for staff earning RM3,000 a month or less are exempt. For a company hiring its first foreign managers on an Employment Pass, every one of those contracts is above the exemption. The second is the service agreement: a consultancy, management or IT services contract is ad valorem, not a flat RM10. On a RM600,000 one-tier service contract, the remitted 0.1% rate gives RM600 of duty. If you are unsure which line a document falls under, our LHDN document stamping (stamp duty) service will classify it before you file.

The big change: self-assessment (STSDS) from 2026

For decades, stamping in Malaysia was officer-assessed: you submitted the instrument, an LHDN officer decided the duty, and you paid what you were told. From 1 January 2026, under the Stamp Duty Self-Assessment System (Sistem Taksir Sendiri Duti Setem, STSDS), the taxpayer must determine the duty, declare it and pay it, as with income tax. LHDN no longer gives you the number; you compute it and carry the risk of getting it wrong.

The rollout is phased over three years:

How to stamp a document on MyTax (e-Duti Setem)

The legacy STAMPS portal was decommissioned at the end of 2025. Stamping now runs through LHDN's e-Duti Setem service on the MyTax portal, the same platform your company uses for income tax. The typical flow for a company document is:

1. Log in to MyTax and select the role you are acting in (for example a director acting for the company).
2. Open e-Duti Setem and start a new application for the instrument type (tenancy, share transfer, general agreement and so on).
3. Enter the parties and the values that drive the duty: annual rent and term, share consideration and NTA, loan amount, contract value.
4. Self-assess the duty. For Phase 1 instruments you declare the amount and keep the working on file.
5. Upload the signed document where required and pay online.
6. Download the stamp certificate and keep it with the signed original. Each additional copy needs its own RM10 duplicate stamping.

Because the company now carries the assessment risk, it is worth agreeing internally who files. In many foreign-owned companies that is the finance manager or the corporate secretary. Either way, the person filing needs a MyTax login with the right company role. Our guide to tax identification numbers for foreign directors and new companies covers getting that access in place.

Property transfers: the tiered scale and the foreign-buyer rates

The transfer of real property, through the Memorandum of Transfer (MOT), is the largest stamp-duty item most companies ever face. For Malaysian individuals and Malaysian-owned companies it is charged on a tiered ad valorem scale on the price or market value, whichever is higher:

On a RM1.5 million factory or office unit, a Malaysian-owned company pays RM1,000 + RM8,000 + RM15,000 + RM20,000 = RM44,000. A foreign company buying the same commercial unit pays the 4% flat rate, RM60,000. The 8% rate, introduced by Budget 2026, applies only to residential property: a RM1.5 million condominium bought by a foreign company carries RM120,000 of duty. Commercial and industrial property for foreign buyers stays at 4%. Whether a locally incorporated Sdn. Bhd. with foreign shareholders counts as a "foreign company" for these items turns on the Stamp Act definition, so confirm the rate with your lawyer before you sign. (Correction, 13 October 2026: an earlier version of this guide applied the 8% rate to all property bought by foreign companies.) These figures shape whether a group holds Malaysian property directly in a foreign-controlled Sdn. Bhd. They also interact with Real Property Gains Tax on the eventual exit; see our guide to Real Property Gains Tax for foreign companies.

Share transfers and loans: the duties that hit corporate deals

The transfer of shares in an unlisted Malaysian company attracts 0.3% (RM3 for every RM1,000) of the consideration or the value of the shares, whichever is higher, with value normally based on net tangible assets. That rule is the trap: transferring shares at a nominal RM1 does not produce RM1 of duty if the company has substantial net assets, which is why a share transfer usually needs management accounts to support the valuation. Share transfers are Phase 1 instruments, so they are already self-assessed. For the wider corporate steps, see our guide to share allotment, transfer and capital reduction.

A loan or financing agreement generally attracts 0.5% of the amount. A RM5 million facility to fund a factory carries RM25,000 of duty on the loan instrument alone. Unsecured loans repayable on demand or in a single bullet repayment, which can include shareholder loans to a new subsidiary, are charged at 0.1%. Since 1 January 2024 foreign-currency loans have been charged like ringgit loans with no cap; Budget 2027 proposes to restore a cap for loans from Malaysian banks (see below).

Tenancy and lease duty: small numbers, frequent mistakes

Almost every foreign company signs a tenancy for office, retail or factory space, and many under-stamp it. Tenancy duty is charged per RM250 (or part) of the average annual rent, with the rate depending on the term. The Finance Act 2024 changed both the rates and the base from 1 January 2025:

On a RM6,000-a-month office (RM72,000 a year) on a three-year lease, that is 72,000 ÷ 250 = 288 units × RM3 = RM864, plus RM10 for each additional stamped copy. Under the old rules the same lease cost RM558 ((72,000 − 2,400) ÷ 250, rounded up, × RM2). Tenancies are Phase 1 instruments, so any lease signed in 2026 and not yet stamped should be filed before the waiver ends on 31 December.

Budget 2027: stamp duty proposals that affect businesses

Budget 2027 was tabled on 9 October 2026. The stamp duty measures below are proposals and take effect only once the Finance Bill is passed and the relevant orders are gazetted.

For foreign-owned groups the most relevant item is the foreign-currency loan cap. A USD-denominated facility from a Malaysian bank to fund a plant currently attracts 0.5% with no ceiling. If the proposal is enacted, an agreement signed on or after 1 January 2027 would pay at most RM2,000 for loans up to RM100 million. Where timing is flexible, it may be worth discussing with your bank whether to execute in January.

Adjudication, deadlines and penalties

An instrument executed in Malaysia must be stamped within 30 days of execution. One executed abroad must be stamped within 30 days after it is first received in Malaysia. Late stamping attracts a penalty that rises with the delay, up to RM100 or 20% of the deficient duty, whichever is higher. Where the correct duty is genuinely uncertain, such as a complex transfer, an unusual instrument or a valuation question, you can apply for adjudication, asking LHDN to determine the duty formally. Under self-assessment, LHDN can audit stamped instruments afterwards and raise additional assessments where it disagrees with your figure, so keep the valuation basis and supporting documents on file.

What a foreign-owned company should do before 31 December 2026

1. List your stampable documents: tenancies, employment contracts above RM3,000 a month, service agreements, shareholder loans, share transfers and property documents. Check each one is stamped and the certificate is on file.
2. Clear the Phase 1 backlog before 31 December, while late-stamping penalties are waived for tenancies, share transfers and general agreements.
3. Budget ad valorem duty before you sign: 0.5% on financing, 0.3% on share transfers, 0.1%–0.5% on service contracts, and 4% or 8% on property bought by a foreign company.
4. Plan for Phase 2: property transfers move to self-assessment from 1 January 2027.
5. Keep the working: valuation, NTA computation, rent schedule. If LHDN audits, your self-assessed figure has to be defensible.

Stamp duty is administratively simple but strict on timing and evidence, and under self-assessment the cost of a mistake lands on the company. If you would like your tenancies, employment contracts, share transfers and financing documents stamped correctly and on time, our LHDN stamping service manages the whole cycle, and our tax and compliance service covers the wider tax position. Talk to us. You may also find our guides on corporate tax and SST compliance and foreign equity and paid-up capital useful when planning the full cost of setting up.

This article is general information only, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Policies, thresholds and official fees are set by the relevant Malaysian authorities and may change. Talk to our consultants about your specific situation.