New Rules for Deduction of Expenses for Secretarial Fee and Tax Filing Fee

28 May 2020

The Income Tax (Deduction for Expenses in Relation to Secretarial Fee and Tax Filing Fee) Rules 2020 (‘2020 Rules’) were gazetted on 19 May 2020 and have effect from year of assessment 2020.

The 2020 Rules replace the Income Tax (Deduction for Expenses in Relation to Secretarial Fee and Tax Filing Fee) Rules 2014 (‘2014 Rules’) which have been revoked pursuant to the 2020 Rules.

The main differences between the 2020 Rules and the 2014 Rules are as follows –

As the Goods and Services Tax Act 2014 has been repealed, the references to the repealed Act has been replaced by references in the 2020 Rules to tax filing fee charged for the preparation and submission of the return under –

section 26 of the Sales Tax Act 2018;

section 26 of the Service Tax Act 2018;

section 19 of the Departure Levy Act 2019; and

section 19 of the Tourism Tax Act 2017.¹

Under the 2014 Rules, the maximum amount deductible for secretarial fee was RM5,000 and for filing tax returns was RM10,000 for each year of assessment. The 2020 Rules allow a maximum aggregate deduction of RM15,000 for both secretarial fee and tax filing fee for each year of assessment.

¹ The deductibility of expenses incurred for secretarial fee charged by a registered company secretary and tax filing fee charged by an approved tax agent for the preparation and submission of returns under sections 77, 77A, 77B and 86 of the Income Tax Act 1967 are maintained under the 2020 Rules.

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New Rules for Deduction of Expenses for Secretarial Fee and Tax Filing Fee