Malaysia Income Tax Reliefs: The Full Checklist (YA 2024)
Reliefs are the single biggest lever an ordinary Malaysian has over their tax bill: every ringgit of relief you can legitimately claim comes straight off your chargeable income before the progressive rates are applied. Most people leave money on the table simply because they do not know a relief exists or forget to keep the receipt. This is the full checklist of the main personal reliefs for Assessment Year 2024 (filed in 2025), each with its cap and the catch that trips people up. The self relief and the EPF and life-insurance caps here are the exact figures this site's calculator uses.
The main reliefs at a glance (YA 2024)
Each relief has its own ceiling, and many have sub-limits inside them. You claim the amount you actually spent, up to the cap:
| Relief | Cap (RM) | Key condition |
|---|---|---|
| Individual (self) & dependents | 9,000 | Automatic for every resident taxpayer |
| EPF & approved schemes | 4,000 | Mandatory employee contributions (non-pensionable) |
| Life insurance / takaful | 3,000 | Separate from EPF for non-pensionable taxpayers |
| PRS & deferred annuity | 3,000 | Private Retirement Scheme contributions |
| Education & medical insurance | 3,000 | Premiums for self, spouse or child |
| Lifestyle | 2,500 | Books, computer, smartphone, internet, gym subscription |
| Sports equipment & activity | 1,000 | A separate additional lifestyle relief |
| Medical expenses (serious illness, fertility, checkup) | 10,000 | RM1,000 sub-limit for full check-up / mental health |
| Spouse / alimony (spouse no income) | 4,000 | Spouse earns no income or you pay alimony |
| Each child under 18 | 2,000 | Per unmarried child |
| Each child 18+ in higher education | 8,000 | Diploma level and above, full-time |
| Childcare centre / kindergarten fees | 3,000 | Child aged 6 and below |
| Net deposit in SSPN (education savings) | 8,000 | Net of any withdrawal in the year |
| Parents' medical, care & treatment | 8,000 | Medical, special needs or carer expenses for parents |
| SOCSO / EIS contributions | 350 | Contributions paid during the year |
| EV charging facility | 2,500 | Installation, rental or purchase (non-business) |
The traps that cost people money
A few relief rules catch taxpayers out every single filing season:
- EPF and life insurance are SEPARATE caps for non-pensionable taxpayers — RM4,000 and RM3,000, not a combined RM7,000 pool. Claim both.
- The lifestyle relief (RM2,500) and the sports relief (RM1,000) are different reliefs — a gym membership can sit under lifestyle while sports equipment sits under the sports relief, so you can claim both.
- Medical expenses for parents (RM8,000) and the older RM1,500-per-parent relief cannot both be claimed — you pick one basis for parental relief.
- You must keep receipts and supporting documents for seven years. LHDN does not ask for them when you e-File, but can request them in an audit — an unsupported relief claimed is a penalty waiting to happen.
Worked example: stacking reliefs
Take someone earning RM80,000 gross with RM8,800 of EPF, RM2,400 of life/medical insurance, RM2,500 of lifestyle spending, one child under 18, and RM3,000 in a SSPN deposit. Their reliefs are: self RM9,000 + EPF RM4,000 (capped) + insurance RM2,400 + lifestyle RM2,500 + child RM2,000 + SSPN RM3,000 = RM22,900.
Chargeable income falls from RM80,000 to RM57,100. Because the top of that income sits in the 11% band, the last few thousand ringgit of relief each saved tax at 11 sen in the ringgit — roughly RM2,500 of tax saved versus claiming nothing beyond the automatic self relief. Reproduce your own figure instantly with the calculator below, then adjust each relief.
Important caveats
This is the main resident-individual relief list for YA 2024 and is a planning guide only — it is not exhaustive (there are further reliefs for the disabled, breastfeeding equipment, higher-education fees for yourself and more), and caps, sub-limits and expiry dates change at every Budget. Rebates such as the RM400 individual rebate and the zakat rebate work differently again — they reduce the tax itself, not the income. Always confirm the current reliefs and their conditions on the LHDN website and claim through official e-Filing.
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-13