Stamp Duty and Legal Fees Calculator Malaysia 2026
Add up the stamp duty on the transfer and the loan agreement, the legal fees for both, and the first-home exemption, for a property purchase in Malaysia.
Preview page. The rates are checked against official sources; the page is awaiting final review before it is published.
Result
This is an estimate for planning. Confirm the final figure with the bank, JPJ or LHDN before you commit.
How it's calculated
Four charges make up the upfront cost of buying a property, on top of the down payment. Two are stamp duties set by the Stamp Act 1949 and paid to LHDN; two are legal fees set by the Solicitors’ Remuneration Order 2023 and paid to the lawyers.
Stamp duty on the transfer. The price is rounded up to the next RM 100 and taxed in tiers: 1% on the first RM 100,000, 2% on the next RM 400,000 (up to RM 500,000), 3% on the next RM 500,000 (up to RM 1,000,000) and 4% on anything above RM 1,000,000. Non-citizens who are not permanent residents, and foreign companies, pay a flat 8% on residential property and 4% on other property instead.
Stamp duty on the loan agreement. RM 5 for every RM 1,000 of the loan or part of it, which is 0.5%.
Legal fees. For both the SPA and the loan agreement: 1.25% on the first RM 500,000, subject to a minimum of RM 500, then 1% on the next RM 7,000,000, and a negotiable fee of at most 1% above RM 7,500,000. New launches sold under the Housing Development Act use Table B, a percentage of that scale.
Worked example (the default inputs). A first-time Malaysian buyer signs an SPA in 2026 for a sub-sale home at RM 500,000.00 with a 90% loan of RM 450,000.00.
Transfer duty before exemption: 1% × RM 100,000 = RM 1,000.00, plus 2% × RM 400,000 = RM 8,000.00, total RM 9,000.00. Loan duty before exemption: 450 × RM 5 = RM 2,250.00. Both are fully exempt under the first-home exemption, so the duty payable is RM 0.00.
SPA legal fee: 1.25% × RM 500,000 = RM 6,250.00. Loan legal fee: 1.25% × RM 450,000 = RM 5,625.00. Total upfront cost: RM 11,875.00 plus disbursements. A buyer who does not qualify for the exemption pays RM 23,125.00.
First-home exemption, 2021 to 2027
Stamp Duty (Exemption) Orders P.U.(A) 53 and 54 of 2021, extended by P.U.(A) 448 and 449 of 2025, remove 100% of the duty on the transfer and on the loan agreement for a Malaysian citizen buying their first residential property worth up to RM 500,000, where the SPA is signed between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2027. The buyer must never have owned a residential property, alone or jointly, including by inheritance or gift, and declares this in a statutory declaration. Budget 2027 proposed a new scheme for SPAs signed from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2030 that would also cover homes up to RM 750,000 with partial relief above RM 500,000; it had not been gazetted when these rates were checked, so this page does not apply it.
Foreign buyers
Since 1 January 2024 the transfer duty for a buyer who is neither a citizen nor a permanent resident, or for a foreign company, is a flat rate rather than the tiers. From 1 January 2026 the flat rate is 8% for residential property and 4% for everything else. Permanent residents pay the ordinary tiers. In a joint purchase LHDN charges each owner’s share at that owner’s rate.
Legal fees in detail
The Solicitors’ Remuneration Order 2023 applies in Peninsular Malaysia; Sabah and Sarawak have their own scales. A lawyer may give a discount of up to 25% on the Table A fee but not on Table B. The fee excludes disbursements such as land searches, registration fees at the land office, stamping of duplicate copies and courier charges, which is why this page asks you to enter your lawyer’s estimate separately. If the same firm acts for you on the SPA and the loan, you still pay both fees; the second instrument is not discounted unless the firm chooses to.
FAQ
Who pays the stamp duty when buying a house?
The buyer pays the duty on the instrument of transfer (the memorandum of transfer, or deed of assignment where there is no individual title) and the borrower pays the duty on the loan agreement. The seller pays nothing on these instruments. Each side pays its own lawyer, and the buyer usually pays the loan lawyer too unless the bank runs a zero-entry-cost promotion.
When is stamp duty due?
An instrument signed in Malaysia must be stamped within 30 days of signing. In practice your lawyer submits the transfer and the loan agreement for adjudication through LHDN’s STAMPS system after the SPA, and asks you to pay the duty when the assessment is issued. Late stamping attracts a penalty on top of the duty.
Can stamp duty and legal fees be financed?
Some banks offer to finance the loan agreement’s legal fees and duty, and a few add the SPA costs, usually by lending more than the property margin or through a separate personal financing. Developers sometimes absorb the SPA legal fee and the transfer duty on new launches. Everything else is paid in cash before completion, so budget for the total shown here on top of the down payment.
Am I a first-time buyer for the stamp duty exemption?
You qualify if you are a Malaysian citizen buying your first residential property, you have never owned a residential property before, including one received by inheritance or gift and whether held alone or jointly, and the market value of the home is not more than RM 500,000. You sign a statutory declaration to that effect. The exemption applies to SPAs signed from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027 and covers both the transfer and the loan agreement.
What is the difference between the SPA and the MOT?
The sale and purchase agreement is the contract between you and the seller; it sets the price, the deposit and the completion timeline, and carries only a nominal duty of RM 10. The memorandum of transfer (Form 14A) is the document that moves the title into your name at the land office, and it is the one that attracts the tiered ad valorem stamp duty. For properties without individual title, a deed of assignment plays the role of the MOT.
Sources
- Stamp Act 1949 (Act 378), First Schedule, items 22, 27, 32(a), 32(aa) and 32(ab), updated text as at 1 January 2024
- Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 (Act 851), section 68: 4% rate for non-citizens and foreign companies from 1 January 2024
- Finance Act 2025 (Act 874), section 29: 8% rate on residential property for non-citizens and foreign companies from 1 January 2026
- LHDN, Garis Panduan Pengenaan Duti Setem bagi Surat Cara yang Tertakluk kepada Jadual Pertama Akta Setem 1949 (30 June 2026)
- LHDN, Pengenalan Duti Setem di bawah Akta Setem 1949 (worked examples, 29 December 2025)
- LHDN STAMPS, statutory declaration for P.U.(A) 54/2021 read with P.U.(A) 449/2025 (first home up to RM500,000, SPA by 31 December 2027)
- Ministry of Finance, Budget 2026 tax measures, Appendix 15 (extension of the first-home exemption to 31 December 2027)
- Ministry of Finance, Budget 2027 tax measures, Appendix 16 (proposed first-home scheme for SPAs 2027 to 2030, not yet gazetted)
- Solicitors' Remuneration Order 2023, P.U.(A) 207/2023, gazetted 12 July 2023, in force 15 July 2023 (Malaysian Bar Circular 185/2023)
- Malaysian Bar Circular 258/2023, English rendering of the SRO 2023 scales
- Legal Profession Act 1976 (Act 166), section 2 (application to Sabah and Sarawak only by order)