Foreign investors in Malaysia enjoy national treatment in all aspects except asset restrictions. Foreign securities investors can also freely buy and sell stocks and bonds in local stock exchanges and buy new shares of newly listed companies. However, foreign capital can only own 20% of the shares in commercial banks at most. Foreign-funded enterprises can also participate in government-funded research and development projects.
tax system
Taxes in Malaysia include direct taxes and indirect taxes.
Direct taxes include: income tax, real estate surplus tax and oil income tax;
Indirect taxes include: domestic taxes, customs duties and import and export taxes, sales taxes, service taxes and stamp duties.
The federal government and local governments in Malaysia implement tax-sharing system. The specific taxes are as follows:
(1) Taxes collected by the federal government
The tax rate and tax proportion levied by the federal government
Fiscal (about 80%) and non-fiscal (about 20%, including relevant government fees)
Fiscal revenue is divided into direct tax and indirect tax, among which:
Direct taxes account for about 54%, including: income tax (company, the tax rate is 28%; Individuals, the tax rate is 0-28%; Oil industry, tax rate 38%)
Indirect taxes account for about 46%, including export taxes.
Import tax, 0-300%
Service tax, the tax rate is 5%
Sales tax, the tax rate is 0-25%.
commodity tax
other
(ii) Taxes collected by local governments
The taxes collected by the state government mainly include: land, mine and forest taxes, license taxes (excluding motor vehicles, electrical equipment and business registration licenses), entertainment taxes and hotel taxes; House number tax is levied by the municipal authorities.
Tax rate of major taxes:
1, enterprise income tax
Generally speaking, all income of companies operating in Malaysia should be taxed. However, remittances from resident companies and non-resident companies to Malaysia are tax-free (except for banks, insurance, shipping and air transport companies). If a company implements its business control and management in Malaysia, it is regarded as a resident company.
Generally, the income tax of foreign-funded enterprises is 28% of that of domestic-funded enterprises, and companies with emerging industrial status can get preferential treatment in accordance with relevant regulations. The corporate income tax rate for oil production is 38%.
2. Personal income tax
Income earned by Malaysian residents, income remitted to China from outside Malaysia and income earned by non-residents working in Malaysia shall be subject to income tax. The individual income tax rate of residents adopts a progressive tax rate of 0-28%, which can be reduced or exempted if it meets the relevant provisions. The personal income tax rate for non-residents is 28%. Non-residents do not enjoy tax relief unless they stay in Malaysia for a short period and work in Malaysia for no more than 60 days.
Non-resident individuals shall pay specific income tax in advance for the following income obtained during their stay in Malaysia:
-For income from using movable property, providing technical consulting services, providing factory and machine installation services and providing other intangible assets, the prepayment tax rate is 65,438+00%;
-The tax rate for the advance payment of income from patent provision is10%;
-The tax rate for advance payment of bank deposit interest income is15%;
-The advance tax rate for the income from mass performances is 15%.
3. Real estate profit tax
Income from the sale of real estate, land interests and shares of real estate companies in Malaysia is subject to real estate profits tax. The corresponding tax rates for Malaysian citizens and companies are as follows:
-If the real estate (including related rights and interests) is sold within two years after acquisition, the tax rate is 30%;
-If the real estate (including related rights and interests) is sold within the third year after acquisition, the tax rate is 20%;
-If the real estate (including related rights and interests) is sold within the fourth year, the tax rate is15%;
-If the real estate (including related rights and interests) is sold within the fifth year after acquisition, the tax rate is 5%;
-If the real estate (including related rights and interests) is sold after the fifth year, the corporate tax rate is 5%, and Malaysian citizens are not required to pay.
Malaysian citizens and permanent residents can enjoy tax exemption up to RM 5000 or 65,438+00% of their income.
Non-Malaysian citizens and residents who sell real estate and related rights and interests within five years have a real estate income tax of 30%, and the tax rate is 5% after five years, and they do not enjoy tax reduction or exemption.
4. Business tax
Sales tax is a first-class ad valorem tax. All products and imported goods made in Malaysia (except duty-free goods) are subject to sales tax at the rate of 0-25%, but raw materials and machinery used to make taxable goods are usually duty-free. Some non-staple foods and building materials are taxed at 5%, while tobacco and alcohol are taxed at 25% and 20% respectively. Some raw materials, basic grains, building materials, agricultural tools and heavy machinery in the construction industry can be exempted from tax; Some sightseeing and sports goods, books, newspapers and reading materials can also be exempted from tax.
5. Service tax consumption tax
Some commodities (such as food, drinks, tobacco, etc.). ) The services provided by some institutions are subject to service tax, which can also be regarded as consumption tax. When providing services or selling goods, the tax rate is usually 5% of the service fee or product price. At present, all large hotels, restaurants inside and outside hotels, conference and performance venues, professional services provided by lawyers, accountants and surveyors, insurance and telecommunications services, security and leisure services are subject to service tax.
6. Domestic tax revenue
Some local products are subject to domestic tax, mainly including cigarettes, alcohol, cards and motor vehicles.
7. Import duties
Most imported goods have to pay import tax, which is divided into specific tax and specific tax. The import tax rate calculated by value is between 2% and 300% (assembled cars). In recent years, import duties on most raw materials, spare parts and machinery and equipment have been abolished. However, since the financial crisis occurred in the second half of 1997, the Malaysian government has increased the import tax rate of some large machinery and equipment and high-end consumer goods in order to reduce foreign exchange expenditure, among which the import tax rate of luxury cars has increased from 200% to 300%.
According to the effective preferential tariff scheme of ASEAN * * * promised by Malaysia, from June 5438+1 October1day, 2003, the import tariffs of other ASEAN member countries entering Malaysia will be reduced to 0-5%.
8. Export tariffs
Except for the export of some resource commodities, Malaysia usually exempts the export of manufactured goods from export tax. Taxable commodities subject to export tax in Malaysia include crude oil, logs, sawn timber, palm oil and other resource commodities.
9. Stamp duty
Stamp duty is levied on some bills and documents, and different tax rates are adopted according to the types of bills and documents and the transaction amount involved. For enterprises, if the assets reach RM 654.38+ 10,000 for the first time, stamp duty of 654.38+0% will be levied, and if it exceeds this amount, stamp duty of 2% will be levied. For the transferable system, the stamp duty rate is 0.3%. Some bills, such as bills of lading and bills of rights transfer, such as copyrights, patents and trademarks, are exempt from stamp duty.