If your Sdn Bhd pays you a dividend, separate two sets of responsibilities. The company must document and report the distribution correctly. You, as the individual shareholder, must consider all relevant dividends together when preparing your annual tax position.
The 2% charge isn’t simply withheld from every company payment, and it isn’t a second 2% tax on the company’s profit.
This guide focuses on ordinary Malaysian company dividends and the company/shareholder recordkeeping split. Its calculation is specifically for a Malaysian-resident individual under separate assessment for year of assessment (YA) 2025. Establish whether each distribution is taxable or exempt before using that calculation; different investment distributions and shareholder circumstances can require different treatment.
Who is the 2% charge aimed at?
HASiL’s YA2025 BE explanatory notes, B2 on printed page 5, describe Malaysian-source dividends received by individual shareholders from listed or unlisted Malaysian companies, including cash and non-cash distributions. The scope includes resident and non-resident individuals and shares held through nominees.
The notes apply the 2% rate to chargeable dividend income connected with annual dividend income exceeding RM100,000. They refer to P.U.(A) 148/2025, gazetted on 7 May 2025.
A standard voucher format may be used for different shareholder categories. That doesn’t turn a corporate shareholder into an individual subject to this 2% charge.
Why you need to combine dividends
In the fictional calculation below, Aina receives RM90,000 from one Malaysian company and RM60,000 from another. Each voucher is below RM100,000; together they total RM150,000. The annual calculation must bring those amounts together before applying the threshold and relevant formula.
Keep each voucher’s tax category and supporting explanation. A payment described informally as a “dividend” should not be assigned a tax treatment from its label alone.
What the company should do
Before paying a dividend, the company should coordinate the corporate and accounting steps applicable to the distribution, including:
- checking the proposed distribution and available records;
- documenting the necessary approvals;
- identifying the dividend category;
- recording the payment or distribution;
- issuing the required voucher or certificate; and
- retaining the supporting documents.
HASiL’s dividend-voucher guidance, updated 15 June 2026, addresses relevant vouchers from YA2025 and includes gross or paid amounts and market values for distributions in kind. The official sample voucher illustrates the format and separation of dividend categories.
What the shareholder should do
Keep vouchers from every company and check the total with the amounts actually received or distributed. Tell the tax adviser about nominee holdings, non-cash distributions, joint assessment and any other facts that may affect the calculation.
Don’t instruct the company to withhold 2% from every dividend as a shortcut. The personal computation works from annual information and chargeable income, not simply one payment at a time.
Fictional case study: employment and dividend income
Assume Aina is a Malaysian-resident individual under separate assessment for YA2025, with no personal business income. She has:
- RM150,000 of ordinary Malaysian dividends subject to this regime, from the RM90,000 and RM60,000 vouchers above;
- RM100,000 of statutory employment income;
- RM15,000 of valid personal reliefs; and
- no dividend-specific exemption, deductible expense, other income, donation, rebate or other adjustment.
The RM15,000 relief assumption is illustrative, not an automatic entitlement.
| Step | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory dividend income | RM150,000 − RM100,000 threshold | RM50,000 |
| Aggregate income | RM50,000 + RM100,000 | RM150,000 |
| Chargeable income | RM150,000 − RM15,000 | RM135,000 |
| Chargeable dividend portion | RM50,000 ÷ RM150,000 × RM135,000 | RM45,000 |
| Dividend-tax component | RM45,000 × 2% | RM900 |
| Remaining chargeable income | RM135,000 − RM45,000 | RM90,000 |
The apportionment follows B15–B17 in the explanatory notes and the official YA2025 BE sample form.
RM900 is the dividend-tax component. For completeness, the remaining RM90,000 produces RM7,500 of ordinary income tax under the resident YA2025 table on printed page 37 of the explanatory notes:
RM3,700 on the first RM70,000 + 19% × RM20,000 = RM7,500
Total income tax in this example is therefore RM7,500 + RM900 = RM8,400, before subtracting any tax already paid or applicable tax credits. The example assumes no rebates. The amount still payable cannot be determined without those payment and credit records.
Aina passes both vouchers, her employment information, relief evidence and tax-payment records to the adviser. The adviser can then reconcile the annual computation and balance payable. Each company keeps its own distribution records; neither tries to work out Aina’s final personal tax from one voucher.
The lesson is visible in the numbers. Applying 2% directly to the RM50,000 excess would give RM1,000, but the stated apportionment produces RM900. Collecting the whole annual picture changes the calculation.
Situations needing separate assessment
This example doesn’t cover:
- joint assessment and spouse amounts;
- non-resident computations;
- personal business income requiring a different return;
- dividend-specific exemptions or deductible expenses;
- nominee complications;
- distributions in kind; or
- dividend-planning recommendations.
These cases should be assessed using the correct return, current rules and complete annual information.
Keep both sides of the workflow clear
The company should document the distribution and issue the voucher. The individual should collect all vouchers, aggregate the relevant dividends and complete the annual tax computation.
Keeping those roles separate helps avoid treating the 2% charge as a company-level tax or calculating it independently from each voucher. The accountant document checklist can help organise the company records; keep the shareholder’s personal tax evidence in a separate file.
Sources checked on 24 September 2026 against HASiL’s YA2025 explanatory notes, sample BE form and dividend-voucher materials. The worked calculation is limited to its stated resident, separate-assessment assumptions and is not a comprehensive exemption or dividend-planning guide.
Sources referred to in this guide (4)
We’ve taken reasonable steps to verify the cited sources and check this information as at the source-check date. We can’t guarantee 100% accuracy, completeness or that it remains up to date. This is general information and does not replace professional accounting, tax or legal advice tailored to your circumstances. How these guides were prepared.