IN
DoubleTaxation.tax residence check for Indians abroad

Tax residence in Malaysia for Indian taxpayers

Malaysia treats you as resident if you spend 182 days or more there in a calendar year, with any part of a day counting as a full day. Fewer days can be enough: if they are linked to at least 182 consecutive days in Malaysia within the previous or the next calendar year, if you have spent 90 days or more there in earlier years, or if you were resident in the three previous years and will be in the next. India counts days over its tax year (1 April – 31 March). If both countries claim you, Art. 4(2) of the India–Malaysia Agreement (2012) decides; both countries relieve double tax by credit (Art. 24). Malaysia taxes foreign income only when it is received in Malaysia.

Check your status: India and Malaysia

Free, no sign-up, about 3 minutes. Conclusion under Indian income-tax law, compared with the law of Malaysia and the tax treaty.

When Malaysia treats you as a tax resident

Malaysia counts days in the calendar year (an individual's basis year), and the threshold is 182 days (not 183): 182 days or more make you resident. Any part of a day in Malaysia counts as a full day, so the days of arrival and departure count too. Citizenship, visa or owning a home do not matter for this test.

Malaysia links years together: even fewer than 182 days in the selected year make you resident if those days are linked to a period of at least 182 consecutive days in Malaysia that lies entirely within the previous or the next calendar year (for example, you were in Malaysia from 1 March to 31 December of the previous year and stayed on into the selected year). A stay that merely crosses 31 December is not enough: from September to April, neither year contains 182 consecutive days. Business trips for your Malaysian job, medical treatment (yours or a close relative's) and social visits of up to 14 days in total do not break the period if you were in Malaysia before and after the trip; a longer holiday abroad does. The 14-day allowance for social visits covers both periods together.

The second rule is for people who come to Malaysia year after year: 90 days or more in the selected year make you resident if, in any three of the four preceding years, you were resident in Malaysia or spent at least 90 days there. The criteria can be combined — for example, two years of residence and one year with 90 days.

The second rule is for people who come to Malaysia year after year: 90 days or more in the selected year make you resident if, in any three of the four preceding years, you were resident in Malaysia or spent at least 90 days there. The criteria can be combined — for example, two years of residence and one year with 90 days.

The third rule keeps your status for a year in which you were hardly or not at all in Malaysia (for example, studying or working abroad for a long time): you are resident if you were resident in each of the three preceding years and will be resident in the following year. So your final status for such a year is known only after the following year ends.

For Malaysian citizens in the public service (or with a statutory authority) who spent the selected year abroad because of that work or on study fully paid by the employer, a special rule applies: they are treated as resident.

For Malaysian citizens in the public service (or with a statutory authority) who spent the selected year abroad because of that work or on study fully paid by the employer, a special rule applies: they are treated as resident.

The second rule is for people who come to Malaysia year after year: 90 days or more in the selected year make you resident if, in any three of the four preceding years, you were resident in Malaysia or spent at least 90 days there. The criteria can be combined — for example, two years of residence and one year with 90 days.

The second rule is for people who come to Malaysia year after year: 90 days or more in the selected year make you resident if, in any three of the four preceding years, you were resident in Malaysia or spent at least 90 days there. The criteria can be combined — for example, two years of residence and one year with 90 days.

The third rule keeps your status for a year in which you were hardly or not at all in Malaysia (for example, studying or working abroad for a long time): you are resident if you were resident in each of the three preceding years and will be resident in the following year. So your final status for such a year is known only after the following year ends.

For Malaysian citizens in the public service (or with a statutory authority) who spent the selected year abroad because of that work or on study fully paid by the employer, a special rule applies: they are treated as resident.

For Malaysian citizens in the public service (or with a statutory authority) who spent the selected year abroad because of that work or on study fully paid by the employer, a special rule applies: they are treated as resident.

Malaysia links years together: even fewer than 182 days in the selected year make you resident if those days are linked to a period of at least 182 consecutive days in Malaysia that lies entirely within the previous or the next calendar year (for example, you were in Malaysia from 1 March to 31 December of the previous year and stayed on into the selected year). A stay that merely crosses 31 December is not enough: from September to April, neither year contains 182 consecutive days. Business trips for your Malaysian job, medical treatment (yours or a close relative's) and social visits of up to 14 days in total do not break the period if you were in Malaysia before and after the trip; a longer holiday abroad does. The 14-day allowance for social visits covers both periods together.

The third rule keeps your status for a year in which you were hardly or not at all in Malaysia (for example, studying or working abroad for a long time): you are resident if you were resident in each of the three preceding years and will be resident in the following year. So your final status for such a year is known only after the following year ends.

For Malaysian citizens in the public service (or with a statutory authority) who spent the selected year abroad because of that work or on study fully paid by the employer, a special rule applies: they are treated as resident.

For Malaysian citizens in the public service (or with a statutory authority) who spent the selected year abroad because of that work or on study fully paid by the employer, a special rule applies: they are treated as resident.

When you are a nonresident

Where the rules of Malaysia clash with Indian tax rules

What else to know

How dual residence is resolved

If both countries treat you as a resident, Art. 4(2) of the treaty applies: Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Malaysia for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, with Protocol, signed at Putrajaya on 9 May 2012. The tests are applied in order — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, and finally mutual agreement between the tax authorities.

The treaty in detail: income, rates, the 183-day rule →

Terms you will come across in Malaysia

Income Tax Act 1967 (ITA)
Malaysia's income tax law; residence of individuals — s. 7
basis year
for an individual, the calendar year for which residence is determined
LHDN
Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia
Certificate of Residence (e-Residence)
Malaysian certificate of tax residence, issued by LHDN online
RPGT (Real Property Gains Tax)
tax on gains from selling real property in Malaysia
PR 11/2017
LHDN public ruling on the residence status of individuals

Questions

Which DTAA applies between India and Malaysia?

The Agreement signed at Putrajaya on 9 May 2012, in force since 26 December 2012; it applies in India from 1 April 2013 and in Malaysia from the year of assessment 2013, and replaced the 2001 Agreement. The tie-breaker is in Art. 4(2): permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, then mutual agreement.

Does Malaysia tax my salary for a short assignment if I remain resident in India?

Not if all conditions of Art. 16(2) of the Agreement are met: no more than 183 days in Malaysia in any twelve-month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, an employer not resident in Malaysia, and pay not borne by its permanent establishment or fixed base there. Malaysian law on its own exempts work of no more than 60 days in the year.

How is double taxation relieved between India and Malaysia?

If India is your state of residence, India deducts the Malaysian tax up to the Indian tax attributable to that income (Art. 24(2)); claim it with Form No. 44. If Malaysia is, it credits Indian tax on income it taxes (Art. 24(4)); foreign income of resident individuals received in Malaysia by 31 December 2036 is exempt if it was taxed in the country of source.

Sources

Legislation and official guidance

Updated 10/11/2026. The result is for information only and is not tax or legal advice. Tax authorities and courts may interpret the rules differently, including because of circumstances not covered here, and the law changes. Consult a qualified adviser before making decisions.

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