Chapter 4
These Are The Personal Tax Reliefs You Can Claim In Malaysia
For income tax in Malaysia, personal deductions and reliefs can help reduce your chargeable income, and thus your taxes. If planned properly, you can save a significant amount of taxes.
There are personal reliefs that every taxpayer in Malaysia can deduct once their income reaches the chargeable income level. In addition, there are other reliefs that you can deduct from your chargeable income if you have spent money in that category for the year.
Income tax relief for lifestyle expenses
The government has added a lifestyle tax relief during the 2017 budget, which now includes smartphones, tablets and monthly internet subscription bills. The previous laptop, books, stationary and sports equipment tax relief is now grouped under lifestyle tax too. There is also a separate tax relief for lifestyle expenses for sports activities.
These are the types of personal reliefs you can claim for the tax filing in 2026 (YA 2025).
| Individual and dependent relatives | ||
| Expenses for parents and grandparents : i. Medical treatment, dental treatment, special needs and carer expenses(Medical condition certified by medical practitioner) ii. Complete medical examination (Restricted to RM1,000) | ||
| Purchase of basic supporting equipment for disabled self, spouse, child or parent | ||
| Disabled individual | ||
| Education fees (Self): i. Other than a degree at masters or doctorate level – Course of study in law, accounting, islamic financing, tehcnical, vocational, industrial, scientific or technology ii. Degree at masters or doctorate level – Any course of study iii. Course of study undertaken for the purpose of upskilling or self-enhancement (Restricted to RM2,000) | ||
| Medical expenses on: i. Serious diseases for self, spouse or child ii. Fertility treatment for self or spouse iii. Vaccination for self, spouse and child (Restricted to RM1,000) iv. Dental examination and treatment (Restricted RM1,000) | ||
| Expenses (Restricted to RM1,000) on: i. Complete medical examination for self, spouse or child ii. COVID-19 detection test including purchase of self-detection test kit for self, spouse or child iii. Mental health examination or consultation for self, spouse or child iv. Purchase of self-health monitoring equipment v. Fees for disease detection tests |
||
| Expenses (Restricted to RM6,000) for child aged 18 and below: i. Assessment of intellectual disability diagnosis ii. Early intervention programme / intellectual disability rehabilitation treatment |
||
| Lifestyle Expenses for the use / benefit of self, spouse or child in respect of: i. Purchase or subscription of books / journals / magazines / newspapers / other similar publications (Not banned reading materials) ii. Purchase of personal computer, smartphone or tablet (Not for business use) iii. Payment of monthly bill for internet subscription (Under own name) iv. Skill improvement / personal development course fee | ||
| Lifestyle Additional relief for the use / benefit of self, spouse, child and parents in respect of: i. Purchase of sports equipment for any sports activity as defined under the Sports Development Act 1997 ii. Payment of rental or entrance fee to any sports facility iii. Payment of registration fee for any sports competition where the organizer is approved and licensed by the Commissioner of Sports under the Sports Development Act 1997 iv. Gymnasium membership fee / sports training | ||
| Purchase of breastfeeding equipment for own use for a child aged 2 years and below (Deduction allowed once in every TWO (2) years of assessment) | ||
| Child care fees to a registered child care centre / kindergarten for a child aged 6 years and below | ||
| Net deposit in Skim Simpanan Pendidikan Nasional (Net deposit is the total deposit in 2025 MINUS total withdrawal in 2025) | ||
| Husband / wife / payment of alimony to former wife | ||
| Disabled husband / wife | ||
| Each unmarried child and under the age of 18 years old | ||
| Each unmarried child of 18 years and above who is receiving full-time education ("A-Level", certificate, matriculation or preparatory courses). | ||
| Each unmarried child of 18 years and above that: i. receiving further education in Malaysia in respect of an award of diploma or higher (excluding matriculation/ preparatory courses). ii. receiving further education outside Malaysia in respect of an award of degree or its equivalent (including Master or Doctorate). iii. the instruction and educational establishment shall be approved by the relevant government authority. | ||
| Disabled child | ||
| Additional exemption of RM8,000 disable child age 18 years old and above, not married and pursuing diplomas or above qualification in Malaysia @ bachelor degree or above outside Malaysia in program and in Higher Education Institute that is accredited by related Government authorities | ||
| Life insurance and EPF Civil servants’ pension schemes, non-civil servants pension schemes and self-employed category: i. Mandatory contributions to approved schemes or voluntary contributions to EPF (excluding private retirement schemes) or contributions under any written law (Restricted to RM4,000) ii. Life insurance premium payments or family takaful contributions or additional voluntary contributions to EPF (Restricted to RM3,000) | ||
| Deferred Annuity and Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) | ||
| Education and medical insurance | ||
| Contribution to the Social Security Organization (SOCSO) | ||
| Expenses on charging facilities for Electric Vehicle and domestic food waste composting machine (Not for business use) | ||
| Payment of housing loan interest for first home ownership (Sale and purchase agreement from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027) Relief Limit: i. Residential house price up to RM500,000 or ii. Residential house price exceeding RM500,000 up to RM750,000 | or 5,000 |
Source: LHDN
Other income tax reliefs for medical expenses, married couples
There really are a lot of tax reliefs and if you plan your reliefs effectively every year, you could be saving thousands in taxes every year.
Quick tips
One of the most beneficial personal tax relief categories is the medical relief, especially after the Prime Minister announced that the limit for medical personal tax relief has been increased from RM8,000 to RM10,000 starting from Year of Assessment 2023. Check out our article focusing on medical income tax relief to find out what procedures are eligible for a personal income tax relief.
Quick tips
On top of just looking at tax reliefs, how you file can make a difference. For married taxpayers, you need to consider whether to file for joint or separate assessment to maximise on the tax relief such as spouse relief, and also which spouse to claim for child relief. Depending on the income differences between the spouses claiming joint or separate can have a big impact on your tax savings.
Income Tax Calculator
Want to calculate how much tax you could be saving with tax relief?
Use our 2026 income tax calculator to find out!
