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Year of Assessment 2025 · Plain-language guide

Malaysia Income Tax Reliefs 2025

Tax reliefs are the government's way of lowering the income you pay tax on — rewarding things like saving for retirement, insuring your family, staying healthy and investing in education.

Every ringgit of relief you qualify for shrinks your “chargeable income” — the figure your tax is worked out from — so understanding them is one of the simplest ways to pay only what you genuinely owe.

This guide lists every relief for the 2025 Year of Assessment, grouped so it's easy to scan. Every amount and limit below is read live from our tax engine, which is built only from official LHDN figures — so this page stays in step with the calculator and never drifts out of date.

See what this means for your tax →

How tax reliefs work, in one minute

  • A relief lowers the income you're taxed on — it isn't money handed back to you, and it's different from a rebate (which lowers the tax itself).
  • For most reliefs you claim what you actually spent, and only up to an official limit (the “cap”). Spend more than the cap and only the cap is counted.
  • A few reliefs are automatic: when your situation qualifies, the fixed amount is granted without you spending anything.
  • Keep your receipts and supporting documents in case LHDN asks to see them.

You & your family

Reliefs for you as an individual and for the people who depend on you. Everyone automatically gets the individual relief. Others — a non-working spouse, a disabled family member, childcare or breastfeeding costs — are added on top when they apply to you. A common mix-up: the individual relief isn't something you claim or spend; it's simply granted to every taxpayer.

Insurance & retirement

What you set aside for retirement and protection: your EPF (KWSP) savings, life insurance or takaful, PERKESO/EIS contributions, private retirement savings, and education or medical insurance. A common misunderstanding: EPF and life insurance share one combined limit, each with its own smaller pocket inside it — paying more into one doesn't unlock the other's space.

Lifestyle & living

Everyday spending the government encourages. Books, personal devices, internet and short courses fall under the main lifestyle relief; there is a separate additional relief just for sports — equipment, facility or competition fees and gym membership; and electric-vehicle charging and food-waste composting equipment have their own line. A common mistake: these are separate limits, not one shared pot — the sports relief is on top of, not inside, the main lifestyle limit.

Medical & health

Health costs for you, your family and your parents. One overall medical limit covers serious-disease and fertility treatment, vaccination and dental care, a full medical examination or mental-health check, and diagnosis or early intervention for a child with a learning disability. Your parents' medical care sits under its own separate limit; and basic supporting equipment for a disabled person is counted on its own. A common misunderstanding: vaccination, dental, and the examination/mental-health claim each have their own smaller caps inside the medical limit.

Education & savings

Investing in your own learning and your children's future. Your own approved course fees (with a separate pocket for shorter upskilling courses) and your net SSPN education savings are counted here. A common mix-up: SSPN counts your deposits minus any withdrawals for the year — the net amount, not every deposit.

Your first home

New for the 2025 tax year: if you bought your first home, you can claim the interest on your housing loan. The limit depends on the price — up to RM7,000 for a home costing RM500,000 or less, or up to RM5,000 for one priced between RM500,001 and RM750,000. Conditions apply: it must be your first residential home, lived in by you, one unit only, with no income earned from it, and the Sale and Purchase Agreement signed between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2027. It can be claimed for three consecutive years.

Child reliefs

On top of the reliefs above, you can claim a fixed amount for each qualifying child. The amount depends on the child's age and situation — a young child, an older child still studying, or a disabled child. Parents can share a child's relief between them (commonly split in half) rather than both claiming it in full for the same child.

  • Child under 18

    RM2,000.00 for each qualifying child

  • Child 18+ in A-level/pre-university

    RM2,000.00 for each qualifying child

  • Child 18+ in higher education

    RM8,000.00 for each qualifying child

  • Disabled child

    RM8,000.00 for each qualifying child

  • Disabled child in higher education (additional)

    RM8,000.00 for each qualifying child

Source: LHDN Tax Reliefs page, YA 2025 table, items 16a–16c

Rebates (lower your tax directly)

A rebate is different from a relief: instead of lowering the income you're taxed on, it comes off the tax bill itself, right at the end. Because of that it's especially worth watching for if your income is modest.

These rebates apply only when your chargeable income is RM35,000.00 or below.

  • Individual rebate

    RM400.00

  • Spouse rebate

    RM400.00

  • Zakat / Fitrah rebate

    Reduces your tax by the actual zakat or fitrah you paid during the year.

Source: LHDN Rebates page, YA 2025

See it applied to your own numbers

Reading about caps is one thing — seeing them applied to your income is clearer. Our free calculator uses the exact same figures as this guide to show your estimated tax, step by step.

See what this means for your tax →

Want the rates and worked examples? See how much tax you'd pay →

This is an unofficial, plain-language guide to help you understand Malaysian tax reliefs for the 2025 Year of Assessment. Every figure is based on official LHDN sources (linked throughout), but this page is not a substitute for LHDN's own guidance or your official tax filing.