Malaysia · LHDN stamp duty amnesty · late stamping
Is your unstamped agreement covered by the stamp duty amnesty?
LHDN is waiving the late-stamping penalty on documents signed between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2025, if they are stamped and paid by 31 December 2026. Four questions tell you whether your document is inside the window, and what the penalty is if it is not.
Amnesty deadline
Rules checked on 5 September 2026.
Check your document
One question per screen. Nothing is stored, and you can change any answer from the result.
Question 1 of 6
What kind of document is it?
Choose the closest. The rule is the same for every kind; the duty is not.
How the amnesty works
What the amnesty is, in one paragraph
Program Khas Pengakuan Sukarela (PKPS) Duti Setem 2026 is LHDN’s stamp duty amnesty. It ran from 1 January 2026 and was extended on 26 June 2026 to 31 December 2026. It covers every kind of stampable instrument executed between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2025 that has not been stamped, or on which duty has not been paid. The duty itself is still payable in full. What is waived is the late-stamping penalty, under the Collector’s power in section 47A(2) of the Stamp Act 1949. There is no application and no appeal letter: the penalty is written off automatically when the duty is paid.
What is not covered
Five situations fall outside the amnesty. The last one is the trap for December.
- An instrument executed before 1 January 2023, or after 31 December 2025.
- An instrument on which the duty and the penalty were already paid in full before 1 January 2026. There is no refund.
- A case involving fraud to evade duty.
- An instrument submitted for stamping after the programme closes.
- An instrument submitted inside the programme but paid after it closes. Both the submission and the payment must be completed by 31 December 2026.
Submission is not payment
The condition is that stamping and payment are both completed inside the window. A submission on 20 December that is assessed in January is outside it. Assessment takes time, and LHDN carries a backlog toward every deadline.
The notice of assessment will still show the penalty figure. It is waived at the payment step, which alarms people who do not expect to see it.
If you are outside the amnesty, what is the penalty?
An instrument executed in Malaysia must be stamped within 30 days of execution. One executed abroad must be stamped within 30 days of first being received in Malaysia. After that, section 47A of the Stamp Act 1949 sets two bands. The figures below are the statute’s, in force since 1 January 2025.
| Stamped | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Within three months after the 30-day period | RM50, or 10% of the unpaid duty, whichever is higher |
| Later than that | RM100, or 20% of the unpaid duty, whichever is higher |
Before 1 January 2025 the scale had three bands, starting at RM25 or 5%. A page that still shows RM25 is out of date. The minimum duty on an instrument is now RM10, except cheques and contract notes.
Stamp Act 1949, sections 47 and 47A(1), as amended by the Finance Act 2024 (Act 862); section 36CB.
“My agreement is not stamped. Is it void?”
No. An unstamped agreement is not void. Section 52 of the Stamp Act 1949 makes it inadmissible in evidence until it is stamped and the duty and penalty are paid. The obligations in it still exist; what you cannot do is rely on the document in court until it is stamped.
In practice the problem surfaces when a landlord needs to sue on an unstamped tenancy, or an employer needs to enforce a term in an unstamped contract. The document is stamped late, with the penalty, and then used.
How to stamp it now
Stamping under the amnesty is done online through LHDN’s e-Duti Setem system, the STAMPS portal at stamps.hasil.gov.my, or through MyTax for the instrument types already moved to self-assessment (STSDS). Manual submission over the counter is not accepted under the programme.
You upload the instrument, receive the assessment, pay the duty, and print the stamp certificate. The penalty appears on the assessment and is waived on payment.
Which agreements need stamping at all?
The First Schedule to the Stamp Act 1949 charges duty on, among others:
- Tenancy and lease agreements. From 1 January 2025 the duty is RM1, RM3, RM5 or RM7 for every RM250 of average annual rent, depending on the term, with a minimum of RM10. The old RM2,400 exemption is gone.
- Sale and purchase agreements, and the memorandum of transfer.
- Loan and facility agreements, and the charge.
- Employment and service agreements. A contract where the monthly pay is RM3,000 or less is exempt from 1 January 2026; before that the exemption stopped at RM300 a month, so most contracts signed between 2023 and 2025 were chargeable.
- Powers of attorney, share transfer forms, and most other written agreements.
After you have stamped
Where the document leads next depends on what it is.
- A sale and purchase agreement: the conveyancing steps, and when each payment falls due.
- The stamp duty on a transfer or a loan, on the Stamp Act tiers.
- A tenancy that has already turned into a dispute: what a lawyer’s letter means and how long you have.
- Rent or a debt that is owed to you: from a letter of demand to enforcement.
Talk to us
Send us the agreement. We will stamp it and tell you what it can be used for.
Send a photo of the first and last pages by WhatsApp, or call. Tai & Khan Partnership is a firm of advocates and solicitors in Petaling Jaya. If the document is inside the amnesty, the sooner it is submitted, the more room there is before the December deadline.
Common questions
What is the PKPS stamp duty amnesty, and when does it end?
It is LHDN’s programme waiving the late-stamping penalty on instruments executed between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2025. It was extended on 26 June 2026 and closes on 31 December 2026. Stamping and payment must both be completed by then.
My tenancy agreement was signed in 2024 and never stamped. Am I covered?
Yes, if you submit it for stamping and pay the duty by 31 December 2026. The penalty is waived automatically. The duty itself is still payable.
My agreement is from 2022. Is it covered?
No. The amnesty covers instruments executed from 1 January 2023. An older instrument is stamped with the ordinary penalty under section 47A: RM100 or 20% of the duty, whichever is higher, for anything more than three months late.
Do I need to apply or appeal for the penalty waiver?
No. There is no application. The penalty shows on the assessment and is written off when the duty is paid inside the programme window.
Is an unstamped tenancy agreement valid?
It is not void. It cannot be used as evidence in court until it is stamped and the penalty paid. The tenancy itself still exists.
What is the late stamping penalty if I am outside the amnesty?
RM50 or 10% of the unpaid duty, whichever is higher, if the instrument is stamped within three months after the 30-day stamping period. RM100 or 20% after that. These are the section 47A figures in force since 1 January 2025.
Do employment contracts need to be stamped?
Yes, unless the monthly pay is within the exemption threshold: RM3,000 a month from 1 January 2026, and RM300 a month before that. A contract signed between 2023 and 2025 above RM300 a month was chargeable and is inside the amnesty if still unstamped.
I submitted for stamping in 2025 but never paid. Do I still qualify?
Yes, if the duty is paid inside the programme window and the penalty was not already paid in full before 1 January 2026. What is excluded is an instrument on which both duty and penalty were fully paid before the programme began.
Who we are
Tai & Khan PartnershipAdvocates & Solicitors
Queennie Tai, Managing Partner · Harith Khan, Partner
No. 36A, Jalan SS 21/58, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, SelangorThe 31 December 2026 deadline comes from LHDN’s statement of 26 June 2026, as reported by Bernama. LHDN’s own published FAQ on hasil.gov.my still shows the original 30 June 2026 window and had not been updated when this page was checked. Confirm the current position on hasil.gov.my before relying on the deadline.
This check explains the rules in general terms. It is not legal advice on your document, and using it does not make you a client of the firm.