Anyone retiring to Malaysia on MM2H has to buy a home, and a foreign buyer needs the state’s consent, which carries fees of its own. One more charge is set federally rather than by the state, and since the start of 2026 it has doubled for foreigners buying somewhere to live.
Everything below is from the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia’s guidelines on stamp duty under the First Schedule of the Stamp Act 1949, in the edition dated 30 June 2026, read on 23 September 2026.
The three rates for a transfer of property
Stamp duty on the instrument that transfers a property is charged under item 32 of the First Schedule, on the consideration or the market value, whichever is higher. The guidelines set out three rates.
The standard sliding scale, item 32(a). A Malaysian citizen pays this.
| Portion of the value | Duty per RM100 |
|---|---|
| First RM100,000 | RM1 |
| RM100,001 to RM500,000 | RM2 |
| RM500,001 to RM1,000,000 | RM3 |
| Above RM1,000,000 | RM4 |
A flat 4% for foreign buyers, item 32(aa). A sale of real property to a foreign company, or to an individual who is neither a Malaysian citizen nor a permanent resident, is charged at RM4 per RM100.
A flat 8% for foreign buyers of homes, item 32(ab). A sale of any residential property on or after 1 January 2026 to a foreign company, or to an individual who is neither a citizen nor a permanent resident, is charged at RM8 per RM100, or part of RM100.
A foreign individual buying a home now pays 8% of the whole value, with no lower bands. The 4% rate remains for other property.
What the difference comes to
| Home value | Malaysian buyer, sliding scale | Foreign buyer, 8% |
|---|---|---|
| RM600,000 | RM12,000 | RM48,000 |
| RM1,000,000 | RM24,000 | RM80,000 |
| RM2,000,000 | RM64,000 | RM160,000 |
The three values are the minimum homes for MM2H’s Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers. The sliding-scale figures apply the four bands above in order. The 8% figures are the value times 0.08.
Where MM2H meets the 8%
MM2H makes buying a home compulsory, and its participants are not Malaysian citizens. Nothing in the guidelines exempts them from item 32(ab). A Silver participant buying the minimum RM600,000 home should expect stamp duty of about RM48,000 on the transfer, on top of the price.
In Penang, the state’s own charges on the same home add a RM10,000 application fee and a levy of RM18,000, as set out in Penang’s price floors and levies. Together, the state and federal charges on a RM600,000 Penang home come to about RM76,000 before legal fees, more than an eighth of the price.
The rules for which homes MM2H participants may buy, and the ten-year bar on selling, are in the federal MM2H tiers. If the purchase is the part you want to avoid, Sarawak’s programme makes it optional.
What this page does not cover
The guidelines cover many other instruments, including the loan agreement if you borrow to buy, which carries its own duty, and the exemptions for Malaysian first-time buyers, which a foreigner does not qualify for. This page covers none of those, or legal fees. It states what the Inland Revenue Board publishes, not what your transaction will cost. Your lawyer calculates the duty on the actual documents and should give you the figure in writing before you sign.