Key takeaways
- For YA 2026 (income earned in 2026, filed in 2027) the individual relief is still RM9,000; the RM12,000 from Budget 2027 starts only from YA 2027.
- From YA 2026, life insurance on an eligible child counts under the RM3,000 limit, inside the RM7,000 shared with EPF; education and medical insurance stays at RM4,000.
- Medical expenses are capped at RM10,000, and from YA 2026 that covers any registered vaccine (RM1,000 sub-limit) and up to RM10,000, not RM6,000, for children with learning disabilities.
- New for YA 2026: up to RM1,000 for entrance fees to tourist attractions and cultural programmes, and home CCTV or food waste grinders inside the RM2,500 green relief.
- Parents' medical card premiums cannot be claimed in Malaysia, but their actual medical bills can, under a separate relief of up to RM8,000.
- Keep your receipts for 7 years: you do not send them to LHDN when you file, but you must produce them if asked.
What can I claim for tax relief 2026? The full YA 2026 list
Tax relief 2026 means year of assessment (YA) 2026: the money you earn and spend from 1 January to 31 December 2026, which you report in 2027. If you are searching for the list you will use on your next return, this is it.
One honest note before the table. When I wrote this, LHDN's tax relief page still stopped at YA 2025, so I took that table and the Form BE explanatory notes and applied every YA 2026 change from the Budget 2026 tax measures. The limits are caps: you claim what you actually paid, up to the limit, and you can only claim items that apply to you.
| Relief | Limit (RM) | What counts |
|---|---|---|
| Individual and dependent relatives | 9,000 | Given automatically. It becomes RM12,000 only from YA 2027. |
| Expenses for parents or grandparents | 8,000 | Medical and dental treatment, special needs or carer costs, and a full check-up with vaccination up to RM1,000. They must be resident in Malaysia, with evidence from a registered doctor and receipts. |
| Basic supporting equipment for a disabled self, spouse, child or parent | 6,000 | Wheelchair, hearing aid, haemodialysis machine, artificial leg. Spectacles and optical lenses do not count. |
| Disabled individual | 7,000 | Certified in writing by the Department of Social Welfare (JKM). |
| Education fees (self) | 7,000 | Law, accounting, Islamic finance, technical, vocational, industrial, scientific or technology courses, or a Master's or doctorate in any field. Recognised upskilling courses are capped at RM2,000, and YA 2026 is the last year in this form. |
| Medical expenses for self, spouse or child | 10,000 in total | Serious diseases and fertility treatment, vaccination up to RM1,000, dental up to RM1,000, and full check-up, disease screening, self-test devices and mental health care up to RM1,000 together. Assessment and early intervention for a child with learning disabilities counts up to RM10,000. |
| Lifestyle | 2,500 | Books, personal computer, smartphone or tablet (not for your business), internet bills in your own name, and courses for skills unrelated to your job, for you, your spouse or child. |
| Lifestyle: sports | 1,000 | Sports equipment, facility rental or entrance, competition fees, gym or training fees, for you, your spouse, child or parents. |
| Entrance fees to tourist attractions and cultural programmes | 1,000 | New for YA 2026. Keep the receipts. |
| Breastfeeding equipment | 1,000 | Child aged 2 or below, claimable once every two years of assessment. |
| Childcare or kindergarten fees | 3,000 | Registered centres for a child aged 6 or below, and from YA 2026 also registered daily care or after-school transit centres for children up to 12. |
| SSPN net deposit | 8,000 | 2026 deposits minus 2026 withdrawals. The limit stays RM8,000 however many children you have. |
| Spouse, or alimony to a former wife | 4,000 | For a spouse with no income or on joint assessment. |
| Disabled spouse | 6,000 | On top of the spouse relief. |
| Unmarried child under 18 | 2,000 each | |
| Unmarried child 18 or above in full-time study | 2,000 or 8,000 each | RM2,000 for A-Level, matriculation or preparatory courses. RM8,000 for a diploma or above in Malaysia, or a degree or above overseas. |
| Unmarried disabled child | 8,000 each | A further RM8,000 if aged 18 or above and studying at diploma level or above in Malaysia, or degree level or above overseas (RM16,000 in total). |
| Life insurance and EPF | 7,000 in total | EPF and other approved schemes up to RM4,000. Life insurance, family takaful or additional voluntary EPF up to RM3,000. |
| Private Retirement Scheme and deferred annuity | 3,000 | Runs from YA 2025 to YA 2030. |
| Education and medical insurance | 4,000 | Your medical card and education policy premiums. |
| SOCSO and EIS contributions | 350 | |
| EV charging, compost machine, food waste grinder, home CCTV | 2,500 | Not for business use. Grinders and CCTV are new for YA 2026 and YA 2027. |
| First home loan interest | 7,000 or 5,000 | Sale and purchase agreement signed from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027. RM7,000 for a house up to RM500,000, RM5,000 for one above RM500,000 up to RM750,000. Three consecutive years only. |
There is also a separate rebate, which comes straight off your tax rather than off your income: RM400 if your chargeable income is RM35,000 or less, plus RM400 if you have been allowed the RM4,000 spouse relief, according to the Form BE notes.
What is new in tax relief for YA 2026?
Six things changed from last year, all from the Budget 2026 tax measures. If you only ever copy last year's claims, these are the ones you will miss.
| What changed | YA 2025 | From YA 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Life insurance on your child | Not allowed | Counts under the RM3,000 limit. The child must be unmarried and below 18, unmarried, 18 or above and in tertiary education, or unmarried and disabled at any age. |
| Vaccination | Eight listed vaccines | All vaccines registered and approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency. The RM1,000 sub-limit stays. |
| Childcare fees | RM2,000 plus a time-limited RM1,000, for children up to 6 | RM3,000 made permanent, and registered daily care and after-school transit centres for children up to 12 are added. |
| Children with learning disabilities | Up to RM6,000 | Up to RM10,000, covering autism, ADHD, global developmental delay, intellectual disability, Down syndrome and specific learning disabilities, within the RM10,000 medical limit. |
| Home CCTV and food waste grinder | Not listed | Inside the RM2,500 green relief for YA 2026 and YA 2027. Each can be claimed once in the two years. LHDN says subscription-based CCTV does not qualify. |
| Entrance fees | Not available | Up to RM1,000 for museums, zoos, theme parks, national and marine parks, geoparks, and cultural and arts programmes. |
One grey area for parents. The child's conditions say "tertiary education". Tax bodies asked the government to add pre-university study such as STPM, A-Level and matriculation, and the Ministry of Finance reply only says it has noted the suggestion. If your child is at that stage, confirm with LHDN before you claim the insurance premium.
Is the RM12,000 tax relief for 2026 or 2027? What Budget 2027 changes
It is for 2027, not 2026. Budget 2027 was tabled on 9 October 2026 and raised the individual relief from RM9,000, a figure unchanged since 2010, to RM12,000. But the Budget 2027 tax measures state the effective date for each item as year of assessment 2027. That means income you earn in 2027, reported in 2028. On the return you file in 2027, the figure is still RM9,000.
| Item | YA 2026 (filed in 2027) | YA 2027 (filed in 2028, as proposed) |
|---|---|---|
| Individual relief | RM9,000 | RM12,000 |
| Tax rate on RM70,001 to RM100,000 | 19% | 18% |
| Tax rate on RM100,001 to RM150,000 | 25% | 24% |
| Tax rate on RM1,000,001 to RM2,000,000 | 28% | 30% |
| Parents and grandparents (RM8,000) | Medical-related care, verified by a doctor | All types of care at home, day care or residential centres, with a carer's declaration or work permit and receipts, no doctor needed |
| Medical (RM10,000) | As listed above | Renamed Health and Well-being. Adds postnatal care up to RM3,000 and breastfeeding equipment up to RM1,000 |
| Education (RM7,000) | Selected fields only | Renamed Education and Skills Training. Any recognised field from certificate up, TVET up to RM3,000, and up to RM2,000 for non-work courses or children's tuition in STEM, arts, languages and religion |
| Lifestyle (RM2,500) | As listed above | Adds AI subscriptions, pet adoption from registered shelters and vet vaccination, spaying or neutering |
| Sports (RM1,000) | As listed above | Adds sports shoes up to RM300 |
| Entrance fees (RM1,000) | Available | Extended one more year |
| SOCSO (RM350) | Employee SOCSO and EIS | Adds mandatory Lindung Kendiri, plus a further RM150 for voluntary Lindung 24 and the 17 non-mandatory Lindung Kendiri sectors |
These are Budget proposals until they become law, so check the final wording before you rely on them. The Budget speech puts the combined effect of the higher relief and lower rates at up to RM1,600 more disposable income for about 5 million taxpayers.
Two practical points follow. First, do not wait for RM12,000 before sorting out your 2026 claims: the two years are counted separately. Second, a wider relief in 2027 does not help a bill you pay in 2026, so ask which year the payment falls in before you decide when to pay it.
Which insurance premiums can you claim, and whose policies count?
Clients often ask me about this, because the same policy can fall into two different lines. Life cover goes under the RM3,000 limit, and medical or education cover goes under the separate RM4,000 limit. I have written a longer piece on the insurance tax relief rules if you want every detail.
| Who the policy covers | Life insurance or family takaful (RM3,000) | Medical card or education policy (RM4,000) |
|---|---|---|
| Yourself | Yes | Yes |
| Your spouse | Yes | Yes |
| Your child | Yes from YA 2026, if the child meets the conditions above | Yes, same conditions |
| Your parents | No | No. Their actual medical bills go under the RM8,000 parents relief instead |
- Medical rider on a life policy: only the rider premium goes under the RM4,000. The basic premium goes under life insurance.
- Critical illness: a rider attached to a basic policy counts in full. If it is packaged with term life or personal accident cover, 60% of the package premium counts.
- Group medical: it qualifies when you, the employee, pay the premium.
- Not allowed: waiver of premium riders and travel insurance. A medical policy must also last 12 months or more.
- Joint assessment: the RM4,000 is one limit for husband and wife together. On separate assessment, a wife with her own income has her own RM4,000.
Car insurance, fire insurance on your home and personal accident on its own are not on LHDN's individual relief list. If you pay them as a business expense, that is a different question for your accountant. All of this comes from the Form BE notes, items G17 and G19. If you have a medical card or life insurance, check these two lines first, because they use separate limits.
How much tax can tax relief save? A worked example
Relief lowers the income you are taxed on, not the tax itself, so what you save depends on your top tax band. Here is a made-up example: an employee, single, with RM84,000 of employment income in 2026 and no other income. The tax uses the current rates in LHDN's rate table, which the Budget 2027 document lists as the current position.
| Example only (assumed figures) | Basic claims | All claims that apply |
|---|---|---|
| Employment income in 2026 | RM84,000 | RM84,000 |
| Individual relief | RM9,000 | RM9,000 |
| EPF (capped) | RM4,000 | RM4,000 |
| SOCSO and EIS | RM350 | RM350 |
| Life insurance relief | None | RM3,000 |
| Medical insurance relief | None | RM4,000 |
| Lifestyle relief | None | RM2,500 |
| Parents' medical relief | None | RM2,000 |
| Total relief | RM13,350 | RM24,850 |
| Chargeable income | RM70,650 | RM59,150 |
| Tax for YA 2026 | RM3,823.50 | RM2,506.50 |
Claiming everything saves RM1,317 in this example. The first RM650 of extra relief saves 19%, and the rest saves 11%. As a rule of thumb, each RM1,000 of relief is worth RM190 in the 19% band, RM110 in the 11% band, RM60 in the 6% band and RM30 in the 3% band.
That is also why I would not buy a policy only for the tax relief. Relief gives back only part of what you pay: at 11%, each RM1,000 of relief takes RM110 off your tax. Buy cover because your family needs it, then make sure you claim what you are entitled to.
What to do before 31 December 2026, and how to claim in 2027
Each relief looks at what you paid in the year, so the list you can still change is the one you make now.
- Add up what you have paid since January. Go down the table above and note which limits still have room.
- Ask for your premium statements. Get the annual statement from each insurer, so you have the exact amounts and a record of them.
- Bring forward what you were going to pay anyway. A check-up, a vaccine, your parents' treatment, a laptop you already planned to buy, or your SSPN deposit. Do not spend money only to claim it.
- Keep every receipt. You do not send them in, but LHDN requires you to keep records for 7 years from the year you file.
- File on MyTax. Use e-BE if you have no business income and e-B if you do. Under the filing programme for 2026, the due date for YA 2025 was 30 April with a grace period to 15 May for e-BE, and 30 June with a grace period to 15 July for e-B. LHDN had not published the 2027 programme when I wrote this (the last one came out on 30 December 2025), so check the dates early next year. Filing after the grace period counts as late and a penalty applies.
Common mistakes to avoid:
- Putting RM12,000 on the 2027 return. It is RM9,000 for YA 2026.
- Claiming a parent's medical card under the RM4,000. It does not qualify, though their actual bills may go under the RM8,000.
- Claiming SSPN on the balance. Only 2026 deposits minus 2026 withdrawals count.
- Counting a phone's extended warranty under lifestyle, or a computer used for your own business. Neither qualifies.
- Husband and wife both claiming the same childcare fees or SSPN deposit when assessed separately. Only one of you can claim.
This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. For your own position, check with LHDN on 03-8911 1000 or a tax agent.
Not sure what your policies can claim? Here is how I can help
I am a Great Eastern agent based in Seri Kembangan, and I am not a tax agent, so I will not fill in your return. What I can do is go through your policies with you and show you which premium belongs under which limit, how much room you still have before 31 December, and where your cover has gaps you may want to think about.
You do not need to be my client, and it is fine if your policies were bought from someone else. Send me your premium statements on WhatsApp and I will explain them in Mandarin, English or Cantonese. If you would like me to look at the whole picture, here is how my free policy review works. No hard selling: tax relief is a bonus, never a reason to buy something you do not need.