Stamp Duty on Property in Malaysia — Complete Guide 2026

On a RM600,000 property with a 90% loan, stamp duty alone costs you RM14,700 before you've paid a single ringgit of legal fees or down payment. On a RM900,000 property, that figure climbs to RM25,050. Stamp duty is the single biggest upfront cost most Malaysian buyers underestimate — or discover too late when the solicitor sends the payment schedule.

This guide gives you the exact numbers. How stamp duty is calculated, what rates apply to which part of your transaction, where exemptions exist, and how much cash you need to have ready on signing day.

Last updated 17 October 2026 · money.com.my Editorial

What is stamp duty and why do you pay it?#

Stamp duty is a government tax on legal documents — specifically on instruments that record the transfer of property ownership and the creation of loan agreements. In Malaysia, stamp duty is governed by the Stamp Act 1949 (as amended), administered by the Inland Revenue Board (Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri — LHDN).

For a residential property purchase, you encounter stamp duty in three places:

1. Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) — the contract between buyer and seller. It carries a fixed RM10 duty
2. Memorandum of Transfer (MOT) — the document that registers the title transfer in your name at the land office. This is where the tiered, ad valorem duty is charged
3. Loan Agreement — the facility agreement between you and your bank, at 0.5% of the loan

The SPA is an agreement under hand, stamped at a fixed RM10 under item 4 of the First Schedule; LHDN's stamp duty guideline (Garis Panduan Pengenaan Duti Setem, 30 June 2026) lists sale and purchase agreements for land and buildings among the RM10 instruments. The ad valorem duty is charged on the instrument of transfer under item 32(a). The loan agreement stamp duty is a separate line item.

The buyer normally pays all three: the Stamp Act's Second Schedule makes the transferee liable for the transfer duty and the borrower for the loan agreement duty, and the SPA's RM10 falls on the person by whom it is first executed, which the contract usually settles. The seller does not normally pay stamp duty on the transfer — their tax exposure is Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT), which is a separate calculation based on profit from the sale.

How is stamp duty on the transfer (MOT) calculated?#

Stamp duty on the Memorandum of Transfer is calculated on the purchase price of the property (or its market value, if higher) using a tiered progressive scale:

These rates are set under item 32(a) of the First Schedule of the Stamp Act 1949. They apply to each band independently — not on the full price at the highest applicable rate.

Foreign buyers pay 8%. The tiers above are for Malaysian citizens and permanent residents. From 1 January 2026, a buyer who is not a citizen and not a permanent resident, or a foreign company, pays a flat 8% of the price on residential property instead (item 32(ab), added by the Finance Act 2025).

How to read this table: If your property costs RM600,000, you do not pay 3% on the entire RM600,000. You pay 1% on the first RM100,000, 2% on the next RM400,000, and 3% only on the final RM100,000 that sits above the RM500,000 threshold.

How much stamp duty is charged on the loan agreement?#

Stamp duty on the loan agreement is simpler — it is a flat 0.5% of the loan amount, applied to the full facility.

There is no tiering on loan agreement stamp duty — 0.5% applies to the full loan amount from the first ringgit. This rate applies regardless of whether you take a conventional loan or Islamic financing.

For context on how your loan amount is determined by your bank — including Debt Service Ratio (DSR) calculations and margin of financing — see our home loan guide.

Worked Examples — Three Property Price Points#

Here is the full stamp duty calculation for three common price points, each at 90% loan-to-value (10% down payment), for a citizen or permanent resident buyer. The SPA's fixed RM10 is not included in these totals.

RM400,000 Property (RM360,000 Loan)#

RM600,000 Property (RM540,000 Loan)#

RM900,000 Property (RM810,000 Loan)#

Which stamp duty exemptions can you get?#

First-Time Buyer Exemption#

The most significant exemption available to Malaysian property buyers is the first-home stamp duty exemption. It comes from two gazetted orders, not from a Budget announcement:

• P.U.(A) 53/2021, the Stamp Duty (Exemption) Order 2021 — full exemption on the instrument of transfer (MOT)
• P.U.(A) 54/2021, the Stamp Duty (Exemption) (No. 2) Order 2021 — full exemption on the loan agreement

Both orders apply where:

• The buyer is a Malaysian citizen
• It is their first residential property — they have never owned one, including by inheritance or gift, solely or jointly
• The property's market value is RM500,000 or less
• The buyer makes a statutory declaration

Dates. The transfer exemption covers SPAs executed from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027 (extended from 31 December 2025 by P.U.(A) 448/2025). The loan-agreement exemption in P.U.(A) 54/2021 was set to end on 31 December 2025. The Ministry of Finance's Budget 2027 tax annex (Lampiran 16, p.22) describes the current position as a 100% exemption on loan agreements and instruments of transfer for a first home up to RM500,000, for sale and purchase agreements executed from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027. We could not read the gazetted order that extends the loan exemption (P.U.(A) 449/2025 on the AGC site returned HTTP 500 on 17 October), so if your SPA is signed in 2026 or later, ask your solicitor to confirm it for the loan agreement.

Proposed, not law: Budget 2027 proposes to extend the first-home exemption to SPAs executed from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2030 and to homes up to RM750,000, with a 100% exemption on the first RM500,000 and 50% on the rest (annex Lampiran 16, p.22). It applies only once gazetted.

Neither order covers the SPA itself, which carries only the fixed RM10.

What it saves. A first-time buyer purchasing a RM450,000 property with a 90% loan (RM405,000):

• Transfer: RM100,000 × 1% = RM1,000, plus RM350,000 × 2% = RM7,000, so RM8,000
• Loan agreement: RM405,000 ÷ RM1,000 × RM5 = RM2,025
• Total exempted: RM10,025 (RM8,000 if only the transfer exemption applies, which is the position to assume until your solicitor confirms the loan exemption)

Critical caveat: The exemption has fixed end dates and can be changed by a new order. Before you rely on it, confirm with your solicitor or with LHDN at hasil.gov.my that it covers your SPA date (LHDN's pages were blocked to us on 17 October 2026). Do not assume last year's exemption applies today.

For properties priced above RM500,000, the standard tiered rates apply in full — there is no partial first-time buyer relief on the excess amount.

If you are a first-time buyer still figuring out eligibility and what other government schemes apply to you, the first-time home buyer guide covers PR1MA, the now-closed Skim Rumah Pertamaku, EPF Akaun Sejahtera (Account 2) withdrawals, and the full purchase process.

Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) — When Active#

The Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) has been a periodic government initiative for new homes from developers. We found no primary source for its terms or windows, so this guide no longer lists what it "typically offers" (the earlier text said a full exemption on the SPA, partial or full loan-agreement exemption, and participating REHDA/SHEDA developers) or the years it ran. The Ministry of Finance statement of 9 June 2023 describes the then first-home exemption for homes bought under the Home Ownership Programme (HOPE), not HOC.

Do not assume a campaign is running. The first-home exemption above comes from gazetted orders. Ask your developer, in writing, which stamp duty exemption applies to your SPA date.

Affordable Housing Schemes#

PR1MA homes cost between RM100,000 and RM400,000 (PR1MA's FAQ). PR1MA's pages that we hold say nothing about stamp duty relief, and we found no source for relief on RUMAWIP, Residensi Prihatin or state schemes, so do not assume any: confirm with the scheme administrator at point of application, and use the first-home exemption above only if you meet its own conditions.

Transfer Between Family Members (Instruments of Love)#

Under the Stamp Act 1949 a voluntary transfer such as a gift is charged like a sale (s16(1)), so any reduction for transfers between family members comes from an exemption order, not from the Act. The Ministry of Finance announced on 9 June 2023 that, for instruments executed from 1 April 2023, a transfer of property by love and affection involving a parent and child, or grandparent and grandchild, is exempt in full on the first RM1,000,000 of the property's value, and the balance pays ad valorem duty with a 50% remission. The earlier text said "50% of the standard rate" for spouses and parents and children; that was the older remission for parent-and-child transfers (the Finance Minister's Budget 2023 speech (Bernama, 7 October 2022, on the Ministry's site) said spouse transfers were then fully exempt, with parent-and-child at 50%). We have not identified or read the gazetted exemption order, so check the exact wording, including any citizenship condition, with your solicitor. The term "instruments of love" is the guide's own shorthand, not the Act's.

The Full Cost Picture — Stamp Duty in Context#

Stamp duty is one of several upfront costs at signing. Here is the complete cash requirement for a RM600,000 property with a 90% loan, using standard rates (no exemptions):

This RM600,000 property is above the RM500,000 limit, so it gets no first-home exemption. If you qualify and the market value is RM500,000 or less, the exemption removes the transfer duty and, where the loan exemption still applies to your SPA date, the loan duty: with a 90% loan that is about RM8,800 at RM400,000 (RM7,000 + RM1,800) up to RM11,250 at RM500,000 (RM1,000 + RM8,000 on the transfer, plus RM2,250 on a RM450,000 loan).

Legal fees are regulated by the Solicitors' Remuneration Order, but we could not retrieve that Order on 17 October 2026, so this guide no longer states its scale (the earlier text said 1% on the first RM500,000 of the price and a rebate of up to 25%). Ask your solicitor for a written quotation.

For the mechanics of how your bank calculates the loan amount — including how DSR affects how much you can borrow — see the home loan guide Malaysia 2026. If you've previously owned property and are thinking about refinancing, note that the new loan on a refinance also attracts loan agreement stamp duty at 0.5% — factored into our refinancing cost breakdown.

When is stamp duty paid?#

Understanding when payment is due prevents last-minute scrambles for cash.

SPA stamp duty: a fixed RM10, due within 30 days of the SPA being signed (for documents signed in Malaysia). Your solicitor will stamp the document promptly after the signing appointment. Under s52 of the Stamp Act an instrument that is not duly stamped cannot be admitted in evidence or registered until the duty and any late-stamping penalty are paid, and s47A sets the penalty at the greater of RM50 or 10% of the deficient duty if stamped within three months after the time for stamping, or the greater of RM100 or 20% after that — making timely stamping essential, not optional.

Loan agreement stamp duty: Due at or shortly after loan agreement signing. Your bank's panel solicitor handles the stamping. You will be asked to remit this amount to the solicitor's account before the signing date.

MOT stamp duty: This is the large, tiered duty. The Memorandum of Transfer is the document lodged at the land office (Pejabat Tanah) to register the title change. For sub-sale (secondary market) properties, the MOT is signed and stamped after the full purchase price is settled — usually at the end of the 3-month completion period. For new developer properties, the MOT is executed and stamped after the developer obtains the individual strata or land title, which can take years after Vacant Possession.

Practical sequence for a sub-sale property:

1. SPA signed → SPA stamped at the fixed RM10 within 30 days (usually immediately)
2. Loan agreement signed → loan agreement stamp duty paid immediately
3. Full purchase price settled → MOT signed and stamped (the tiered transfer duty) → lodged at land office
4. Title transferred to buyer's name → transaction complete

For the full sequence of what happens between signing and key collection, see the step-by-step property buying guide.

How do you calculate your stamp duty?#

If you want to calculate your exact stamp duty before speaking to a solicitor, here is the method:

Step 1: Identify your purchase price. Use the SPA price — this is what stamp duty is based on, not the bank's valuation (though LHDN may adjust if the declared price is below market value — an issue mainly for undervalued sub-sales).

Step 2: Apply the tiered MOT stamp duty.

• First RM100,000 × 1% = up to RM1,000
• RM100,001 to RM500,000: subtract RM100,000 from your price (capped at RM400,000 on this band) × 2%
• RM500,001 to RM1,000,000: subtract RM500,000 from your price (capped at RM500,000 on this band) × 3%
• Above RM1,000,000: amount above RM1 million × 4%
• Add all bands together

Step 3: Calculate loan agreement stamp duty. Loan amount × 0.5%

Step 4: Add Steps 2 and 3. This is your total stamp duty liability before exemptions.

Step 5: Apply any exemptions. If you are a confirmed first-time buyer and the exemption orders cover your SPA signing date (P.U.(A) 53/2021 for the transfer, P.U.(A) 54/2021 for the loan agreement), reduce accordingly. Your solicitor confirms which exemptions apply based on the date your SPA is executed.

LHDN operates a stamp duty calculator through MyStamp at hasil.gov.my — this is the official tool and uses current rates as registered in the system.

Stamp Duty vs RPGT — Two Different Things#

Buyers sometimes confuse stamp duty with Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT). They are entirely different:

If you are a seller, your relevant guide is RPGT — not stamp duty. If you are a buyer, you pay stamp duty and bear no RPGT liability on this purchase (RPGT applies when you eventually sell).

Stamp Duty and Refinancing#

If you refinance your home loan later, the new loan agreement attracts its own stamp duty at 0.5% of the new loan amount. This is one of the costs that can make refinancing uneconomical if the rate saving is small.

Example: You refinance from a RM480,000 outstanding balance into a new RM480,000 loan. Stamp duty on the new loan: RM2,400. If your monthly saving from the rate reduction is RM200/month, you need 12 months just to break even on stamp duty alone — before legal fees and valuation costs.

The refinancing guide covers this break-even calculation in full and walks through when the numbers actually work in your favour: refinancing home loan Malaysia.

Is Stamp Duty Tax-Deductible in Malaysia?#

Stamp duty on property purchase is not deductible against personal income tax for individual buyers purchasing residential property for personal use.

If you are purchasing a commercial property for business use, or purchasing property as a registered business (Sdn Bhd), different rules apply and stamp duty may be deductible as a business expense — but this is outside the scope of individual residential purchases.

For the full picture of what IS deductible for individual Malaysian taxpayers — home loan interest relief, lifestyle reliefs, EPF contributions — see the income tax reliefs Malaysia 2026 guide.

Signing Appointment Checklist — What to Bring#

When your solicitor calls to confirm the SPA or loan agreement signing date, have this list ready:

Identity Documents

• Original IC (MyKad) — both buyer and co-buyer if applicable
• Passport if you are a non-citizen (PR or foreign buyer)
• Marriage certificate if buying jointly as spouses

Financial Documents

• Latest 3 months' payslips (in case solicitor needs to verify employment for any process)
• Copy of bank's Letter of Offer (keep a copy, not the original)
• Bank account details for your solicitor's records (for refunds or surplus disbursement)

Property Documents

• Copy of the developer's brochure or listing details (for new launches)
• Copy of title or lot number if available (for sub-sale)
• Agent's contact details in case queries arise during signing

Payments to Have Ready

• Balance of down payment (total 10% minus booking deposit already paid)
• Stamp duty on the SPA (a fixed RM10; the larger transfer (MOT) duty is paid when the MOT is stamped — your solicitor will confirm the amounts and timing)
• Stamp duty on loan agreement (if signing both on the same day)
• SPA legal fees (confirm the amount with your solicitor in advance)
• Valuation fee receipt if already paid separately

Before You Leave the Appointment

• Keep a certified true copy of the signed, stamped SPA — do not leave without one
• Note the solicitor's file reference number
• Confirm the expected timeline for the next step (loan agreement signing, or for new launches, the progressive payment schedule)
• Ask your solicitor to confirm in writing whether your first-time buyer exemption has been applied and on what basis

Stamp duty rates are governed by the Stamp Act 1949 (as amended). The first-time buyer exemption is set by gazetted orders (P.U.(A) 53/2021 and 54/2021, as amended) with fixed end dates. The figures in this guide reflect standard rates as of early 2026. Verify current rates and applicable exemptions with your solicitor or at hasil.gov.my before signing any documents.

Amendment, 11 October 2026. We corrected this guide against the Stamp Act 1949 (Act 378, AGC updated text as at 1 January 2026), the exemption orders and LHDN's stamp duty guideline:

• RM900,000 example in the introduction: it said RM26,700; the correct total is RM25,050, as the worked example already showed. Transfer duty: RM100,000 × 1% = RM1,000, plus RM400,000 × 2% = RM8,000, plus RM400,000 × 3% = RM12,000, so RM21,000. Loan duty on RM810,000: 810 × RM5 = RM4,050. Total RM25,050.
• SPA versus transfer: the tables labelled the tiered duty "SPA/MOT stamp duty" and the FAQ called it "SPA stamp duty". The ad valorem duty is charged on the instrument of transfer (item 32(a)), so the rows are now "MOT (transfer) stamp duty". The SPA itself carries a fixed RM10 (item 4; LHDN, Garis Panduan Pengenaan Duti Setem, 30 June 2026, Part G, which lists sale and purchase agreements for land and buildings among the RM10 instruments).
• First-home exemption: the guide attributed it to "Budget 2024" and said it is "announced in the annual Federal Budget". It comes from P.U.(A) 53/2021 (instrument of transfer) and P.U.(A) 54/2021 (loan agreement), for a Malaysian citizen buying a first residential property with a market value of RM500,000 or less, with a statutory declaration. The transfer exemption runs to SPAs executed by 31 December 2027 (P.U.(A) 448/2025). The loan exemption was set to end on 31 December 2025, and we have not confirmed the order extending it, so the guide now says so.
• Savings figures: a RM450,000 first home with a 90% loan saves RM10,025, not "approximately RM9,500": transfer RM100,000 × 1% = RM1,000 plus RM350,000 × 2% = RM7,000 (RM8,000), and loan RM405,000 ÷ RM1,000 × RM5 = RM2,025. The range of savings was given as "RM8,800–RM14,700"; RM14,700 is the RM600,000 case, which is above the limit and gets no exemption. The range is about RM8,800 at RM400,000 (RM7,000 + RM1,800) up to RM11,250 at RM500,000 (RM1,000 + RM8,000 = RM9,000 on the transfer, plus RM2,250 on a RM450,000 loan).
• Foreign buyers: added that from 1 January 2026 a buyer who is not a citizen and not a permanent resident, or a foreign company, pays a flat 8% on residential property (item 32(ab)); the 1% to 4% tiers are for citizens and PRs.

Sources: Stamp Act 1949 (Act 378), AGC updated text as at 1 January 2026, First Schedule items 4, 27(a)(iii), 32(a) and 32(ab); P.U.(A) 53/2021; P.U.(A) 54/2021; P.U.(A) 448/2025; LHDN, Garis Panduan Pengenaan Duti Setem, 30 June 2026; all checked 10 October 2026.

Amendment, 11 October 2026. Structural change only: a short answer was added at the top, section headings were rewritten as the questions they answer, and one question was added to the FAQ from this guide's own text. No figure, rule or source was changed. Every figure in the short answer already appears in the body of this guide. The short answer uses the transfer exemption only; it does not rely on the loan-agreement exemption, whose extension beyond 31 December 2025 we have not confirmed.

Related Guides#

• How to Buy Your First Home in Malaysia — Step-by-Step — the full buying process from credit check to key collection, including where stamp duty fits in
• First-Time Home Buyer Malaysia — Complete Step-by-Step Guide 2026 — government schemes, eligibility, and exemptions for first-time buyers
• RPGT Malaysia — Real Property Gains Tax Explained — the other property tax you need to know about when you eventually sell
• EPF Housing Withdrawal (Akaun Sejahtera, formerly Account 2) Malaysia — using EPF savings to cover your down payment or reduce the loan principal
• Refinancing Your Home Loan in Malaysia — when it makes sense to switch banks after your lock-in period, and what stamp duty applies on the new loan agreement
• OPR Malaysia Explained — What It Means for Your Mortgage and Savings — how interest rate changes affect your monthly repayment on a floating-rate mortgage

Amendment, 17 October 2026 (EPF link label). The related-guides link to the EPF housing withdrawal guide was labelled "EPF Housing Withdrawal (Account 2) Malaysia". It now reads "EPF Housing Withdrawal (Akaun Sejahtera, formerly Account 2) Malaysia", matching the guide's new title on the open EPF-names pull request. The link target is unchanged; nothing else in this guide changed. Sources: an RTM report of a Dewan Rakyat reply (Akaun Persaraan 75%, Akaun Sejahtera 15% with conditional withdrawals for housing, education and health, Akaun Fleksibel 10% for short-term and emergency needs) and the malaysia.gov.my page "Jenis Akaun Simpanan KWSP", both saved in docs/verification-log/followups-g3-oct17/files. Neither source uses the phrase "Account 2"; the link of Akaun Sejahtera to the old Account 2 follows from its purposes and from RTM tying Akaun Persaraan to the share raised from 70% to 75%, so "formerly" is our reading, not KWSP's wording.

Amendment, 17 October 2026 (EPF account names, follow-up). A further sweep of the EPF account names. "EPF Account 2 withdrawals" now reads "EPF Akaun Sejahtera (Account 2) withdrawals". The old names stay only where they describe the past, in earlier amendment notes, and in the titles of linked guides. The links between the new names and the old account numbers are our reading, not KWSP's wording: the RTM report of 6 July 2026 and the malaysia.gov.my page "Jenis Akaun Simpanan KWSP" name the three accounts and the 75% / 15% / 10% split but do not use the words "Account 1", "Account 2" or "Account 3" (evidence in docs/verification-log/followups-g5-oct17/). Only labels changed; no figure, rate or withdrawal rule was changed.

Amendment, 17 October 2026 (follow-up, evidence batch H). We re-read this guide against the Stamp Act 1949 (Act 378, AGC online 2026 text), P.U.(A) 53/2021, 54/2021 and 448/2025 (AGC), the Ministry of Finance's media statement of 9 June 2023 on stamp duty for first homes and transfers by love and affection, PR1MA's FAQ (saved earlier) and the Budget 2027 tax annex (Lampiran 16). hasil.gov.my returned a "URL blocked" page to us on 17 October. Confirmed: the transfer scale (item 32(a): RM1, RM2, RM3 and RM4 per RM100 on the bands in the table), the foreign-buyer rate of 8% (item 32(ab), from 1 January 2026), the loan duty of RM5 per RM1,000 (item 27(a)(iii)), the fixed RM10 on the SPA (item 4), the 30-day period to stamp, the first-home conditions in P.U.(A) 53/2021 and 54/2021 (citizen, first residential property, RM500,000 or less, statutory declaration), and the transfer exemption to 31 December 2027. Corrected: the loan-agreement exemption was described as unconfirmed beyond 31 December 2025; the Ministry of Finance's own annex lists both exemptions as the current position to 31 December 2027, so the text now says that and keeps the caution that the gazetted extension was not read; the "instruments of love" paragraph said "50% of the standard rate" for spouses and parents and children, which the Ministry of Finance announced on 9 June 2023 as full exemption on the first RM1,000,000 and a 50% remission on the rest for parent-and-child and grandparent-and-grandchild transfers from 1 April 2023; "who pays" now follows the Second Schedule (transferee for the transfer, chargor for the loan, the first signatory for the SPA), where the guide said the buyer pays all three; the unstamped-SPA sentence now states the s52 admission rule and the s47A penalty. Removed as unsourced: the HOC list of benefits ("full exemption on the SPA", "participating REHDA/SHEDA developers") and the years it ran; "PR1MA, RUMAWIP, Residensi Prihatin ... sometimes carry instrument-specific stamp duty relief" (PR1MA's price range of RM100,000 to RM400,000 is confirmed, the stamp duty relief is not); the Solicitors' Remuneration Order scale and the 25% rebate; "sometimes full exemption depending on the qualifying conditions" and "These apply to gifts and inheritance transfers, not commercial transactions" (no source found for either). Held, unchanged: the legal-fee, valuation and insurance ranges in the cost table, which are illustrative. Budget 2027's first-home proposals (to 2030, RM750,000, 50% above RM500,000) are labelled as proposals. Review-round fixes (17 October 2026): the family-transfer paragraph now says the Ministry of Finance "announced" the 9 June 2023 terms (we have not identified or read the gazetted exemption order) and attributes the older spouse and parent-and-child positions to the Finance Minister's Budget 2023 speech (Bernama, 7 October 2022, on the Ministry's site) rather than a Ministry "reply"; the two removed phrases are named in the Removed list above. Evidence and hashes: docs/verification-log/evidence-batch-h-oct17/evidence.md. Calculator follow-up (not changed here): src/lib/rates/stamp-duty.ts waives the loan duty after 31 December 2025 on the strength of P.U.(A) 449/2025, which could not be read; the annex's current-position text agrees with the code's RM500,000 cliff, citizen condition and 2027 end date for both instruments. The rate bands are verified against Act 378, not the annex. Keep LOAN_EXEMPTION_UNCONFIRMED_NOTE until P.U.(A) 449/2025 is read.