Philippine Buyers
The Full Cost Table
Stamp duty for foreign buyers of Malaysian residential property doubled to a flat 8% from 1 January 2026. Add legal fees, the state consent fee, and eventual RPGT, and a Filipino buyer needs a real all-in number, not the listing price. Worked through against a RM1,000,000 example.
Quick summary
Quick answer
Best for
Risk level
Buyer action
| Best for | Filipino buyers who want the real, all-in cost of a Malaysian purchase before they fall for a listing price, and who need current 2026 figures rather than pre-2026 numbers still circulating in older guides. |
|---|---|
| Risk level | High |
| Buyer action | Ask Lewis for a full, itemized cost breakdown — stamp duty, legal fees and the state consent fee — for any specific project and state before you commit, so the number you're budgeting against is the real one. |
Why the Cost List Matters More Than the Price Tag
A Malaysian property listing shows one number — the purchase price — and that number is the least useful figure for actually budgeting a foreign purchase. By the time you account for stamp duty, legal fees, and the state consent fee, a foreign buyer typically pays somewhere between 10% and 14% on top of the sticker price before even moving in, and that's before considering what Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT) takes when you eventually sell. None of these costs are hidden exactly — they're all published, regulated figures — but they rarely appear together in one place, and several of them changed materially for foreigners specifically at the start of 2026, which means older guides and even some agent conversations may still be quoting the pre-2026 numbers. This post puts every cost in one place, worked through against a concrete RM1,000,000 example, so you can budget the real number rather than the listing price.
Stamp Duty: The Number That Doubled for Foreigners in 2026
The single biggest change for foreign buyers took effect on 1 January 2026: stamp duty on the Memorandum of Transfer for residential property bought by a non-citizen (excluding permanent residents) or a foreign company is now a flat 8%, doubled from the previous flat 4% rate, under Item 32(ab) of the Stamp Act 1949 as inserted by the Finance Act 2025. This is a flat rate on the full purchase price, not a tiered scale — unlike the progressive 1%/2%/3%/4% scale that applies to Malaysian citizens and permanent residents on the same transaction. On a RM1,000,000 property, that's RM80,000 in stamp duty alone for a foreign buyer, against RM24,000 for a citizen buying the identical unit — a gap worth internalizing before you compare a listing's headline price against what a Malaysian friend might have paid for something similar. Non-residential (commercial) property continues to use the standard tiered scale regardless of buyer nationality, so this doubled flat rate specifically targets residential purchases by foreigners.
Legal Fees: What the Scale Actually Charges
Legal fees follow the Solicitors' Remuneration Order 2023 (SRO 2023), a fixed statutory scale every Malaysian lawyer charges the same rate on — there's no discount-shopping for a cheaper lawyer on the base fee, only on the disbursements around it. Under Table A of the SRO 2023, the fee is 1.25% on the first RM500,000 of the transaction value (subject to a minimum of RM500), and 1.0% on the portion from RM500,001 to RM1,000,000, tapering further on a sliding scale for higher amounts. This scale applies separately to the Sale and Purchase Agreement and to the Memorandum of Transfer, so a straightforward purchase typically incurs legal fees on both documents, plus a further legal fee on the loan agreement if you're financing part of the purchase, calculated on the loan amount rather than the property price. On top of the base legal fee, 6% Service Tax (SST) applies to the professional fee itself, and the Sale and Purchase Agreement carries a flat nominal stamp duty of RM10 separate from the MOT stamp duty covered above.
DISCUSS WITH LEWIS
The 8% stamp duty change is the number I make sure every foreign client understands before they get emotionally attached to a listing, because it's recent enough that some agents are still quoting the old 4% figure without realizing it. I'd rather have an uncomfortable conversation about the real all-in cost in week one than a much worse one at the lawyer's office three weeks before completion.
The State Consent Fee, Again
We covered the state consent fee in detail elsewhere in this series, but it belongs in this cost list because it's easy to forget when you're focused on stamp duty and legal fees. Every foreign purchase requires written consent from the relevant state authority (or the federal Economic Planning Unit for Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan) before the transfer can be registered, and this consent carries its own fee, separate from stamp duty. Johor's is currently the highest of the states covered in this series at 3% of the purchase price with a minimum of RM30,000, raised from 2% (minimum RM20,000) around mid-2025; Penang charges a broadly similar 3%; other states commonly charge either a flat range of roughly RM10,000 to RM20,000 or a percentage in the 1-2% range, and the Federal Territories' EPU-administered fee varies by case. This fee is paid regardless of whether you're financing the purchase, and it's due before your title can be registered in your name, so it needs to be part of your completion-day budget, not an afterthought.
A Worked Example: The Full Cost of a RM1,000,000 Johor Purchase
Put the pieces together against a RM1,000,000 Johor Bahru strata purchase — clearing the state's standard RM1,000,000 minimum for foreign buyers — and a cash buyer's full cost stack looks roughly like this: RM80,000 in MOT stamp duty (the flat 8% rate), a state consent fee of RM30,000 (Johor's 3% minimum), legal fees across the SPA and MOT in the broad region of RM20,000 to RM25,000 including SST, and the nominal RM10 SPA stamp duty. That's roughly RM130,000 to RM135,000 on top of the purchase price — meaning the true all-in cost of a 'RM1,000,000' property is closer to RM1.13 million to RM1.14 million before you've furnished a single room. A buyer financing part of the purchase adds a further 0.5% loan agreement stamp duty on the loan amount, plus a legal fee on the loan agreement itself under the same SRO 2023 scale. None of these figures are unique to Johor's rate structure — swap in your own state's consent fee percentage and the shape of the calculation stays the same.
A Worked Example: The Full Cost of a RM1,000,000 Johor Purchase
Cost Item
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Amount (RM1,000,000 Johor example)
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Amount (RM1,000,000 Johor example)
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Amount (RM1,000,000 Johor example)
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Amount (RM1,000,000 Johor example)
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Amount (RM1,000,000 Johor example)
| Cost Item | Amount (RM1,000,000 Johor example) |
|---|---|
| Purchase price | RM1,000,000 |
| MOT stamp duty (flat 8%, foreigner) | RM80,000 |
| State consent fee (Johor, 3%, min RM30,000) | RM30,000 |
| Legal fees (SPA + MOT, incl. 6% SST, approx.) | RM20,000–25,000 |
| SPA nominal stamp duty | RM10 |
| Approximate all-in cost | RM1,130,000–1,135,000 |
RPGT on Exit: What You Actually Pay When You Sell
The other side of the cost equation is what you pay when you sell. Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT) for a foreign individual seller is 30% of the chargeable gain if the property is disposed of within the first five years of ownership, dropping to 10% from the sixth year onward — and unlike Malaysian citizens, who reach a 0% rate after the fifth year, a foreign owner never reaches a 0% RPGT rate, full stop; 10% is the floor, not a temporary step. The chargeable gain is broadly the disposal price minus the original acquisition price minus allowable costs (stamp duty, legal fees, and qualifying renovation costs, among others), not the full sale price, so RPGT is calculated on your profit, not your proceeds. As an example, a RM1,000,000 purchase sold three years later for RM1,200,000, with a RM200,000 chargeable gain, would carry RPGT of RM60,000 (30% of RM200,000) if sold within the first five years, or RM20,000 (10%) if sold from year six onward. As of 1 January 2025, RPGT moved to a self-assessment system (STS RPGT), which shifts the responsibility onto the seller to calculate the gain, file the RPGT return, and pay within 90 days of disposal — a real administrative step that's easy to underestimate if you're managing the sale from overseas.
What I'd Budget, All In
Budget for the full stack, not the headline price: roughly 8% stamp duty, a state consent fee in the low single-digit percentages (or a flat range depending on state), and 2-2.5% in legal fees gets you to somewhere between 10% and 14% on top of the purchase price to actually take title, before RPGT even enters the picture on exit. None of these figures move in a foreign buyer's favour compared to a Malaysian citizen's — the 8% stamp duty, in particular, is specifically double what a citizen pays on the same transaction, and it's a relatively recent change that some listings and even some agents haven't fully caught up to communicating clearly. I'd rather a client see this full number before they fall for a listing price than have it surface as a surprise at the lawyer's office three weeks before completion.
Buyer checklist
Foreign buyers now pay a flat 8% stamp duty (doubled from 4% since 1 January 2026), plus legal fees of roughly 2-2.5%, plus a state consent fee — all in, expect 10-14% on top of the purchase price before RPGT even enters the picture on exit, where the rate is 30% within five years and never drops below 10% for a foreigner.
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| 1 | Budget roughly 10-14% on top of the purchase price for stamp duty, legal fees and the state consent fee before you can take title |
|---|---|
| 2 | Confirm you're being quoted the current flat 8% foreigner stamp duty rate, not the outdated 4% figure some older sources still cite |
| 3 | Ask your lawyer for a written, itemized cost estimate including SST before signing the SPA |
| 4 | Budget separately for the state consent fee, which varies meaningfully by state and is due before registration |
| 5 | If financing, add the 0.5% loan agreement stamp duty and its own legal fee on top of the property-side costs |
| 6 | Plan your exit timeline against RPGT — the rate drops from 30% to 10% after year five but never reaches 0% for a foreigner |
Common questions
Is the 8% stamp duty rate confirmed, or still a proposal?
It's confirmed and in effect — the flat 8% rate for non-citizens (excluding permanent residents) applies to residential property transfers executed on or after 1 January 2026, under the Finance Act 2025's amendment to the Stamp Act 1949.
Does the 8% stamp duty apply to commercial property too?
No — the flat 8% rate is specifically for residential property. Non-residential (commercial) property continues on the standard progressive stamp duty scale regardless of the buyer's nationality.
Can a foreigner ever reach 0% RPGT?
No. Malaysian citizens and permanent residents reach 0% RPGT after the fifth year of ownership; foreign individual owners remain at 10% from year six onward indefinitely — there is no 0% tier for foreign sellers under the current rules.
Are legal fees negotiable?
The base fee under the Solicitors' Remuneration Order 2023 is a fixed statutory scale that every Malaysian lawyer charges the same rate on — it isn't negotiable, though disbursements and any additional services outside the standard scope may vary between firms.
Do I pay the state consent fee even if I'm paying cash with no loan?
Yes — the state consent fee applies to every foreign purchase requiring state (or EPU) approval, regardless of whether the purchase is financed or paid in cash.
How is RPGT actually calculated?
On the chargeable gain — your disposal price minus your original acquisition price minus allowable costs like stamp duty, legal fees and qualifying renovations — not on the full sale price, and since 1 January 2025 the seller self-assesses and files the RPGT return within 90 days of disposal.
Lewis Chong
REN 69566 · IQI GlobalProperty advisor helping KL, JB, and Penang buyers make data-backed property decisions.
Related reading
Use one buyer framework across different news.
Ownership: Land vs Strata Title
The Philippine Constitution bars any foreigner from owning land at home, with one narrow exception for condominiums capped at 40% foreign ownership per project. Malaysia issues freehold strata title in a foreign buyer's own name once a state price floor is cleared — no percentage cap, no corporate workaround.
Lewis Conclusion
I don't sell 'ownership' as the whole pitch, because it isn't — a title in your name is only worth what the property underneath it is worth. But for a Filipino buyer who has spent years hearing 'you can't own that' about land back home, seeing a title with your own name on it, no corporate structure standing between you and the government registry, is a real and legitimate reason to look at Malaysia first.
The 40% Condo Cap, Compared
The Philippines caps total foreign ownership in any condominium project at 40% of its units, tracked project by project — a popular Manila tower can fill up and shut foreign buyers out entirely. Malaysia uses a price floor instead of a percentage ceiling. Here's exactly how the cap works, what happens when it fills, and what replaces it in Malaysia.
Lewis Conclusion
The cap itself doesn't scare me — 40% of a large tower is still hundreds of units. What I'd actually push a client to check is the current tally on their specific building, in writing, before they pay a reservation fee, because 'popular enough to sell out to foreigners' is exactly the kind of building that fills the cap fastest — and being told no after you've already paid is a worse position than knowing upfront.
State-by-State Minimum Prices
Malaysia has no single national minimum price for foreign buyers — each state sets its own floor, several split by zone or property type. Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor and Penang compared, with the current state consent fees layered on top, and why you should verify every figure before booking a unit.
Lewis Conclusion
I've watched a buyer fall in love with a project's price, only to discover it sits below their zone's threshold and simply isn't legally available to them. The fix is boring but non-negotiable: check the zone, check the property type, check the current state circular, in that order, before you get emotionally attached to a listing.
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Budget roughly 10-14% on top of the purchase price for stamp duty, legal fees and the state consent fee before you can take title
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Confirm you're being quoted the current flat 8% foreigner stamp duty rate, not the outdated 4% figure some older sources still cite
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Ask your lawyer for a written, itemized cost estimate including SST before signing the SPA
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Budget separately for the state consent fee, which varies meaningfully by state and is due before registration