Stamp Duty Payable in Buying a Property

Stamp duty payable
A purchaser of a property has to pay stamp duty to the government.

How to calculate the stamp duty payable?

The stamp duty chargeable on the Sale and Purchase Agreement is RM10 each.

The stamp duty chargeable on the Memorandum of Transfer is calculated based on the purchase price as follow:- 

• For the first RM 100,000, the stamp duty payable is 1%
• For the next RM 400,000, the stamp duty payable is 2%
• For any sum exceeding RM 500,000, the stamp duty payable is 3%

Link For The Stamp Duty Calculator @ JPPH (Jabatan Penilaian Dan Perkhimatan Harta)

http://www.jpph.gov.my/V2/kira_dutisetem.php?versi=1

When a document is to be stamped

Sale and Purchase Agreement, Loan or Facility Agreement and Charge executed in Malaysia are to be stamped within 30 days of their execution. If the Sale and Purchase Agreement, Loan or Facility Agreement and Charge are executed outside Malaysia, the time for stamping the same is 30 days after they have been first received in Malaysia.

As for the Memorandum of Transfer, it has to be sent to the Stamp Office for adjudication to determine whether the stamp duty is chargeable based on the contract price or the market value of the property. The Memorandum of Transfer shall be stamped within 30 days from the date of the notice of assessment.

Objection to the value assessed

In the event the market value assessed by the Collector of Stamp Duties is greater than the contract price, the stamp duty chargeable will be based on the market value instead of the contract price.

If the purchaser is dissatisfied with the assessment, he may object to the assessment by giving written notice to the Collector of Stamp Duties within 30 days from the date of assessment. The purchaser shall provide particulars and information to support his objection. The Collector of Stamp Duties may on review, cancel the original assessment if it appears to him that the original assessment is excessive and substitute with a fresh assessment or maintain the same assessment if it appears to him that the original assessment is not excessive.

However, the purchaser, in making objection to the original assessment, is not relieved from paying the duty based on the original assessment within 30 days from the date of the original notice of assessment.

Therefore, it would be advisable that the purchaser pays the duty under protest and at the same time pursue with the objection.

If he succeeds in the objection, he may recover the excess stamp duty paid from the Collector of Stamp Duties. If the purchaser is not satisfied with the review by the Collector of Stamp Duties, he may appeal to the High Court within 21 days after the purchaser is notified in writing the result of the review.

Penalty on document not stamped within time

If a document is not stamped within the timeframe, the purchaser will have to pay, in addition to the stamp duty payable, a penalty and the rates of the

penalty are as follows:- 

(i) RM25 or 5% of the duty, whichever shall be greater, if the same is stamped within three months after the time of stamping;

(ii) RM50 or 10% of the duty, whichever shall be greater, if the same is stamped later than three months but not later than six months after the time of stamping;

(iii) RM100 or 20% of the duty, whichever shall be greater, if the same is stamped later than six months after the time of stamping.

The purchaser may appeal to the Collector of Stamp Duties for reduction of penalty

Consequences of a document not duty stamped

A document which is not stamped or insufficiently stamped is not void or unenforceable for that reason alone. However, such document may be rejected as evidence if it is required to be produced before the Court. In that event, the party who wishes to produce the unstamped or insufficiently stamped document will have to pay the stamp duty payable and penalty before such document can be received as evidence.

For Further Information & Inquiries

please contact
Eric Ng @ 012-6655230
email: nwkeric526@gmail.com

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