Property Tax Guide
Real Property Gains Tax is the tax on your profit when you sell. Here are the current rates, the three exemptions worth knowing, and the honest math on whether holding to year six is actually worth it.
Quick answer. For Malaysian citizens and permanent residents, RPGT is 30% for a disposal within the first three years, 20% in year four, 15% in year five, and 0% from year six onwards. Companies pay 10% from year six; foreigners pay a flat 30% for five years and 10% after that. It is charged on your gain, not on the sale price. Rates have not changed since 1 January 2022, and Budget 2026 left them alone.
Which column applies to you depends on your status at the time of disposal, and the row depends on how long you held the property.
| Disposal in | Citizen / PR | Company | Foreigner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within 3 years | 30% | 30% | 30% |
| 4th year | 20% | 20% | 30% |
| 5th year | 15% | 15% | 30% |
| 6th year onwards | 0% | 10% | 10% |
The holding period runs from your acquisition date to your disposal date — the dates on the agreements, not the year you moved in. A property bought in March 2020 and sold in April 2026 is a sixth-year disposal.
This is the part most people get wrong. RPGT is not a percentage of what you sell for — it is a percentage of what you actually made, after costs. If you sell at a loss, there is no RPGT to pay.
Worked through, on a Malaysian citizen selling in the fourth year:
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sold for | RM550,000 |
| Bought for | RM450,000 |
| Gross gain | RM100,000 |
| Less allowable costs (purchase legal fees and stamp duty, agent commission on sale) | − RM23,750 |
| Chargeable gain | RM76,250 |
| Less the standard waiver (RM10,000 or 10% of the gain, whichever is higher) | − RM10,000 |
| Taxable gain | RM66,250 |
| RPGT at the year-4 rate of 20% | RM13,250 |
Illustration only, using round numbers. Your actual allowable costs depend on what you paid and what you can document.
Two categories reduce the gain, and both need paperwork:
Keep every receipt from day one. The most common reason people overpay RPGT is not a rate they misread — it is deductions they could have claimed but cannot prove years later.
A Malaysian citizen or PR can claim a full exemption on the disposal of one private residence, with no cap on the gain. Because you only get it once, it is generally worth saving for the disposal with the biggest profit rather than using it on a small one.
Individuals get RM10,000 or 10% of the chargeable gain, whichever is higher, knocked off every disposal. On smaller gains this alone can wipe out most of the tax.
Disposals of low-cost, low-medium-cost and affordable housing are exempt. The qualifying price threshold is set by each state, so the Perak figure is what matters here.
Transfers between close family members — parent and child, husband and wife, grandparent and grandchild — are also treated differently from an ordinary sale. If that is your situation, get it structured properly by a lawyer rather than assuming.
For a Malaysian citizen, crossing into the sixth year takes the rate from 15% to nothing. On the RM76,250 chargeable gain in the example above, that is roughly RM10,000 saved by waiting rather than selling in year five.
That is a real number, and it is why property here tends to be a seven-to-ten year hold rather than a flip. But it is not the whole picture, and holding purely to dodge the tax can cost you more than it saves:
Run both numbers before deciding. The tax is knowable; the market is not, and pretending otherwise is how people end up holding a property two years too long.
RPGT is filed with LHDN using the CKHT forms, and the deadline runs from the disposal date. In practice your conveyancing lawyer handles the filing as part of the sale, and part of the purchase price is retained to cover the tax until it is settled. Your job is to hand them a complete set of receipts for everything you intend to deduct.
If you are weighing up a sale, or buying with a particular holding period in mind, tell me the numbers and I will talk you through what it looks like in practice — including what comparable units in the area are actually transacting at.
This is general information, not tax advice. RPGT treatment depends on your own circumstances, your status at the time of disposal, and what you can document. Confirm your position with a licensed tax agent or your conveyancing lawyer before you commit to a sale. Rates on this page reflect the position as at Budget 2026 and have been unchanged since 1 January 2022.
Compiled and reviewed by MaSk Chan, REN 49335 · IQI Global. Last reviewed: September 2026.
RPGT (Real Property Gains Tax) is a tax on the profit you make when you sell a property in Malaysia. It is charged on the gain, not on the selling price, and the rate depends on how long you held the property and whether you are a Malaysian citizen, a permanent resident, a company or a foreigner.
For Malaysian citizens and permanent residents: 30% if you sell within the first three years, 20% in year four, 15% in year five, and 0% from year six onwards. Companies pay 30% for years one to three, 20% in year four, 15% in year five, and 10% from year six. Foreigners and non-PRs pay a flat 30% for years one to five, then 10% from year six. These rates have been unchanged since 1 January 2022 and Budget 2026 did not alter them.
For Malaysian citizens and permanent residents, RPGT drops to 0% once you have held the property for more than five years, meaning disposals in the sixth year onwards. Companies and foreigners never reach zero — the floor for both is 10%.
On the profit. RPGT is calculated on the chargeable gain, which is your disposal price minus your original acquisition price minus allowable costs such as legal fees, stamp duty, agent commission and enhancement works. If you sell at a loss there is no RPGT to pay.
Under the RPGT Act, a Malaysian citizen or permanent resident can claim a one-time full exemption on the disposal of one private residence. There is no cap on the gain — the entire chargeable gain on that one property is exempt. You can only use it once in your lifetime, so it is worth saving for the disposal with the largest gain rather than spending it on a small one.
Yes. Foreigners and non-permanent-residents pay a flat 30% for the first five years, where a Malaysian citizen would pay 20% in year four and 15% in year five. From year six a foreigner pays 10%, where a citizen pays nothing. Foreigners also cannot claim the once-in-a-lifetime private residence exemption.
Costs that enhance the value of the property can generally be deducted, as can your purchase legal fees and stamp duty, and the agent commission and legal fees on the sale. Routine repairs and maintenance usually do not qualify. Keep every receipt from the day you buy — you cannot claim what you cannot document, and this is the most common reason people end up paying more RPGT than they needed to.
Purely on tax, holding past the fifth year removes RPGT entirely for a Malaysian citizen, which on a RM100,000 gain is the difference between paying around RM15,000 and paying nothing. That said, tax is only one input. If the market has moved, if you need the cash, or if holding costs you more than the tax saves, selling earlier can still be the right call. Work out the actual numbers rather than holding on principle.