Edition 9 September 2026
Malaysia property stamp duty for foreigners
Since 1 January 2026, a foreigner pays a flat 8% stamp duty on any home purchase in Malaysia. The duty falls on the higher of the price or the market value. The old foreign rate was 4%. Every state also sets a price floor you may not buy under. In Kuala Lumpur that floor is RM1,000,000 ($246,900). The duty alone is RM80,000 ($19,800).
Current at 9 September 2026. Dollars at MYR 4.05 to US$1, the rate of 8 September 2026.
Eight per cent lands on the transfer, not on the handshake
The rule is Item 32(ab) of the First Schedule to the Stamp Act 1949 (Act 378). Section 29(b) of the Finance Act 2025 (Act 874) inserted it. It took effect on 1 January 2026 (Attorney General's Chambers, Laws of Malaysia, read 11 September 2026). Budget 2026 announced the change on 10 October 2025.
It is flat. Eight per cent of the whole, not a tier and not a slice above a threshold. The whole means the higher of your price or the market value (globallawexperts.com, read 10 September 2026). The old foreign rate was a flat 4%. That doubles it (propcashflow.my, 21 February 2026).
The trigger is the date the instrument of transfer is signed, not the sale agreement and not completion. Sign in 2025, stamp the transfer in 2026. You pay 8%. Stamp duty here stays assessed by the tax board, not self-assessed, until 2027. A transfer needing a market-value valuation is the normal case here. It waits until 2028 (Inland Revenue Board, Stamp Duty Self-Assessment System, read 11 September 2026).
This covers a house, condo, apartment, flat, serviced apartment or SOHO used only as a home. Property that is not a home keeps the tiered rates for every buyer. A shop lot is not caught, for example (propcashflow.my, 21 February 2026).
The state, not the seller, sets the lowest price you may pay
Every state fixes its own price floor for a foreign buyer. Below it, the answer is no at any price. A purchase also needs state consent before it completes, under the National Land Code 1965. Consent can take months (iproperty.com.my, 2026).
Foreigners may not buy anything below the state floor. That also rules out low- and medium-cost housing, Bumiputera-quota units, Malay Reserved Land, agricultural land or most individual landed titles. A qualifying strata unit is freehold. It carries no cap on foreign ownership per building and no leasehold-only rule (KL fact sheet, "Foreign ownership rules," 9 September 2026).
| State or territory | Strata floor | Landed floor |
|---|---|---|
| Kuala Lumpur | RM1,000,000 ($246,900) | RM1,000,000 ($246,900) |
| Selangor Zones 1 and 2 | RM2,000,000 ($493,800) | RM2,000,000 ($493,800), strata-landed only |
| Penang island | RM1,000,000 ($246,900) | RM3,000,000 ($740,700) |
| Penang mainland | RM500,000 ($123,500) | RM1,000,000 ($246,900) |
| Johor | RM1,000,000 ($246,900) | RM2,000,000 ($493,800), designated zones |
| Negeri Sembilan | RM650,000 ($160,500) | RM1,000,000 ($246,900) |
| Melaka | RM500,000 ($123,500) | RM1,000,000 ($246,900) |
| Sarawak, outside Kuching | RM500,000 ($123,500) | RM500,000 ($123,500) |
Floors from propcashflow.my, published 21 February 2026 and updated 29 March 2026. The cheapest legal entry in the country is RM500,000 ($123,500), shared by Penang mainland, Melaka and Sarawak.
CHECK Negeri Sembilan's strata floor is printed two ways. This site's Kuala Lumpur research gives RM600,000 and the live 2026 state table gives RM650,000 (propcashflow.my, updated 29 March 2026). Budget the higher one.
Malaysia's MM2H special-zone tier sets no price floor of its own. Its conditions send a Johor zone buyer to the relevant state's property rules. The state floor still applies inside the zone, not a discounted RM500,000. That comes from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, MM2H special-zone conditions, dated 14 June 2024, read 11 September 2026.
What you pay, beside what a Malaysian pays for the same flat
Citizens and permanent residents keep a ladder. It runs 1% on the first RM100,000, 2% to RM500,000, 3% to RM1,000,000, then 4% above that. The Finance Act 2025 excludes permanent residents from the 8% by name.
| Price | You, at 8% | A citizen or PR | The gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| RM600,000 ($148,100) | RM48,000 ($11,900) | RM12,000 ($3,000) | RM36,000 ($8,900) |
| RM1,000,000 ($246,900) | RM80,000 ($19,800) | RM24,000 ($5,900) | RM56,000 ($13,800) |
| RM1,500,000 ($370,400) | RM120,000 ($29,600) | RM44,000 ($10,900) | RM76,000 ($18,800) |
| RM2,000,000 ($493,800) | RM160,000 ($39,500) | RM64,000 ($15,800) | RM96,000 ($23,700) |
Rates from propcashflow.my (21 February 2026) and bratucapital.com (14 May 2026). The first-time-buyer exemption is for citizens only, up to RM500,000 and running to 31 December 2027. A foreigner gets no stamp duty exemption of any kind.
MM2H holders pay the 8%. The statute excludes only citizens and permanent residents, by name. MM2H is a visa pass, not permanent residence (Item 32(ab), First Schedule, Stamp Act 1949, Attorney General's Chambers, read 11 September 2026). At the city floor, that is RM80,000 ($19,800).
Chapter 4 of Living in Southeast Asia 101 sets Malaysia beside the foreign-ownership rules of 7 countries.
Consent going in, and a gains tax that never reaches zero
Going in, every purchase needs state consent before it completes. Going out, you owe Real Property Gains Tax, under Schedule 5 of the Real Property Gains Tax Act 1976 (Act 169). It must be filed and paid within 60 days of the disposal (propcashflow.my, read 10 September 2026).
A foreigner pays 30% of the gain for five years, then 10% from year six onward, forever. A citizen or permanent resident pays nothing from year six. Your only relief is the higher of RM10,000 ($2,470) or 10% of the gain. The clock runs from the date you sign to buy, to the date you sign to sell. Month 59 costs 30%, and month 61 costs 10%.
Who should not buy, and what to look at instead
| If this is you | The problem | Look at instead |
|---|---|---|
| A Kuala Lumpur home under RM1,000,000 | Below the state floor, at any price | Renting, or Penang mainland at RM500,000 |
| Landed property in Selangor | Standard freehold prohibited; strata-landed permitted from RM2,000,000 | A strata-landed unit, or another state |
| Landed property on Penang island | RM3,000,000, plus a 3% state approval fee | The Penang mainland, at RM1,000,000 |
| Reselling inside five years | 8% in, 30% of the gain out | Nothing here; the market is flat |
| MM2H Silver, expecting RM600,000 | State floors override the tier floor | Choose the state before the tier |
MM2H is the one case where you must buy. The purchase is required within twelve months of endorsement and held about ten years (bratucapital.com, 13 March 2026). So the question is not whether, but which state. The state sets the floor. The floor sets the duty. Read the four MM2H tiers before you shortlist a building.
So should you buy here? No, for almost everyone
Rent. You pay 8% at the door and at least 10% of any gain to leave. The market will not pay you back for that. Prices rose 1.7% against 1.6% inflation in the first quarter of 2026. Over 52,000 finished homes sit unsold across the country (NAPIC, Q1 2026). The round trip at the capital's floor leaves RM107,000 ($26,400) with the state over seven years. That is duty and gains tax combined (buying property in Kuala Lumpur, 9 September 2026).
Renting an apartment in Kuala Lumpur takes 3.5 months upfront, RM8,750 ($2,160) on a RM2,500 flat. Most of that comes back. Anyone moving to Kuala Lumpur for two or three years should not be doing this math.
Two things would change the answer: the unsold-homes overhang clearing, or a ten-year hold, the guide's one exception. Permanent residence already escapes the 8% under today's law, not a future change.
What this page does not cover
- The full state table, all 20 states and territories, strata floor and landed floor
- The RPGT rates year by year, citizen against foreigner, and the 3 exemptions you do not get
- The 4 MM2H tiers, with the deposit, the property floor and the purchase deadline on each
- The foreign-ownership rules of 7 countries, cap by cap and structure by structure
All of it is in Living in Southeast Asia 101 — 60 pages, $49. See what's inside
Related
The city-level math sits on buying property in Kuala Lumpur: the subsale average, the yields and the seven-year round trip. Still choosing the country? Compare all ten cities on rent, visas and what a foreigner may own.
Written by Mihailo Pavlovic. We last changed this page on 21 September 2026.