Road Tax (Cukai Jalan) in Malaysia: JPJ Rates by Engine Capacity and How to Renew

The four things that set your rate

Below 1,600cc the rate is a flat amount per band. From 1,601cc upward it becomes a base rate for the band plus a progressive rate for every cc above the band's floor, which is why two cars in the same bracket can pay different amounts. Four variables decide which line of the schedule applies to you:

• Engine capacity in cc, exactly as registered on the vehicle ownership certificate (VOC) — not the marketing figure. A '1.5' badge is usually 1,496cc or 1,498cc, and the registered number is what JPJ charges on.
• Body type — saloon (sedan, hatchback, coupé, wagon, convertible) or non-saloon (MPV, SUV, van, pickup, window van). Non-saloon rates are higher at small capacities but flatten out at large ones.
• Ownership — private individual or company. A company-registered car pays roughly double.
• Region — Peninsular Malaysia, or Sabah and Sarawak, where rates are materially lower.

Private saloon cars — Peninsular Malaysia

Rates for a private saloon registered to an individual in Peninsular Malaysia. Worked example: a Toyota Camry 2.5 has a registered capacity of 2,487cc, so it falls in the 2,001–2,500cc band and pays RM380 + (487 × RM1.00) = RM867 a year.

The 1,601cc cliff — the one real trap

Every other band boundary in the schedule is smooth: at exactly 2,000cc a saloon pays RM280 + 200 × RM0.50 = RM380, and at 2,001cc it pays RM381. Crossing into the next bracket costs a ringgit.

The 1,600/1,601cc boundary is different. A 1,600cc saloon pays RM90. A 1,601cc saloon pays RM200.40 — more than double, for one extra cc. By 1,800cc you are at RM280, roughly three times the 1.6-litre figure for a 12% larger engine.

This single step is the reason the Malaysian mass market clusters at 1.3, 1.5 and 1.6 litres, and why a 1.8-litre used car is cheaper to buy but noticeably more expensive to keep. When you are comparing two cars on the loan calculator below, add the road tax difference to the monthly instalment before deciding — RM190 a year is about RM16 a month, which can outweigh a small difference in interest rate.

Private non-saloon (MPV, SUV, pickup) — Peninsular Malaysia

The two schedules cross over. A 1.5-litre MPV pays RM120 against RM90 for a 1.5-litre saloon — non-saloon is worse at the small end. But a 2.4-litre pickup (2,393cc) pays RM440 + (393 × RM0.80) = RM754.40, while a 2.4-litre saloon pays RM380 + RM393 = RM773. Above roughly 2.5 litres the non-saloon schedule is far cheaper, which is why large SUVs and pickups are relatively affordable to tax.

Sabah and Sarawak pay less

East Malaysian rates were set lower to reflect the state of the road network at the time the schedule was written, and the concession has never been withdrawn.

The gap widens with capacity. That same 2,487cc Camry costs RM867 in Kuala Lumpur but RM274 + (487 × RM0.50) = RM517.50 in Kota Kinabalu — a 40% saving. Non-saloon vehicles in Sabah and Sarawak are cheaper again, starting at RM42.50 for the 1,001–1,200cc band.

The rate follows where the vehicle is registered and kept, not where you happen to be driving. Moving a car from Sarawak to Selangor means re-registering it and paying the Peninsular rate at the next renewal. The schedule below is for private saloons.

Company-registered cars pay about double

If the registered owner is a company rather than an individual, the private-saloon schedule roughly doubles: RM110 instead of RM55 for the 1,001–1,200cc band, RM180 instead of RM90 for 1,401–1,600cc, and RM400 + RM0.80 per cc instead of RM200 + RM0.40 for 1,601–1,800cc. At the top end the difference is severe — above 3,000cc a company pays RM6,010 plus RM13.50 per cc against RM2,130 plus RM4.50.

This matters for the classic Sdn Bhd company-car decision. The road tax premium is a real annual cost that sits alongside the benefit-in-kind the director is taxed on personally, and it should be weighed against the corporate deduction for the vehicle before registering a car in the company's name.

Electric vehicles: the kW schedule from 1 January 2026

Battery electric and fuel-cell vehicles were road-tax exempt until 31 December 2025. From 1 January 2026 they pay under a new schedule based on the motor's rated power output in kilowatts rather than engine capacity, and the rates are far below the pre-exemption EV schedule they replaced.

Within each band the amount steps up in 10 kW blocks above the band floor, so the exact figure depends on your car's registered output — check it in the MyJPJ app rather than estimating from the range. Practically, most mainstream EVs land between RM40 and RM400 a year, comfortably below a petrol car of equivalent performance.

Hybrids are not covered by this schedule. A conventional or plug-in hybrid still has a combustion engine and is taxed on its cc under the tables above.

Renewing it

• Valid motor insurance or takaful comes first. JPJ will not issue road tax without cover in force, and the cover must run at least as long as the road tax period you are buying.
• The road tax sticker is optional. Since the MyJPJ app launched, the digital LKM in the app is the legal record and displaying a printed disc is no longer required — enforcement checks the plate against the system.
• Renew through the MyJPJ app, JPJ counters, Pos Malaysia branches, MyEG, or your insurer as part of a bundled renewal. Renewal is open in the weeks before expiry, so there is no need to wait for the last day.
• Using a vehicle with expired road tax is an offence under the Road Transport Act 1987 and attracts a compound. Worse, an expired road tax often signals lapsed insurance, which leaves you personally exposed to third-party claims after an accident.
• Long-expired road tax can require a JPJ inspection (Puspakom) before it will be reissued, so a car left idle for a year or more is not a same-day renewal.

Budgeting it against the loan

Road tax is small next to the instalment but it does not shrink as the loan amortises, and it arrives as one annual lump. A useful habit is to divide it by twelve and hold it with insurance in the same sinking fund: a 1.5-litre saloon needs roughly RM8 a month for road tax, while a 2.5-litre saloon in the Peninsula needs about RM72.

When you price a car, the honest monthly figure is the instalment plus one-twelfth of road tax plus one-twelfth of the insurance premium. Use the car loan calculator below for the instalment, then add the road tax from the table that matches your body type, region and registered cc.

Important caveats

These are the standard private-vehicle schedules and cover the great majority of cars on Malaysian roads. Motorcycles, taxis, buses, goods vehicles and vehicles on special or trade plates run on separate schedules not reproduced here, and Langkawi, Labuan and Pangkor have their own arrangements. Rates are set by the Ministry of Transport and administered by JPJ, and can be revised in any budget cycle — the figures above reflect the schedule in force at the date shown. Confirm your own amount in the MyJPJ app or at jpj.gov.my before relying on it; this guide is general information, not advice.