Relief by situation · YA2026
How much tax on your salary? A table by monthly salary — YA2026
The most basic income-tax question — “I earn RM5,000 a month, how much tax?” — answered with one table: every salary level from RM2,500 to RM20,000 a month, the automatic reliefs every employee gets, the tax for the year after rebate, the PCB your employer deducts each month, and how much the tax drops when the RM2,500 Lifestyle cap is fully used. Worked out for a single employee with no children; families pay less.
In short: A single employee starts paying tax at roughly RM3,450 a month for YA2026. At RM5,000 a month the tax for the year is RM1,320 (effective rate 1.95%, marginal 6%), and the full Lifestyle cap brings it down to RM1,170; at RM20,000 a month it is RM40,525 with the same cap used.
- Automatic reliefs
- RM13,000
- Tax with example receipts
- RM1,170
- Estimated PCB refund
- RM150
The YA2026 relief table on this page is based on the Budget 2026 tax measures published by the Ministry of Finance, combined with LHDN's latest official table — LHDN has not published the official YA2026 table yet. This page updates itself as soon as it is published. Budget document (belanjawan.mof.gov.my)
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Updated
Checked against official LHDN sources: relief table · rates, deadlines & rules . Checked automatically every day; a change is accepted only after two identical readings. Year of assessment: YA2026.
Reliefs you get without any receipt
| Relief | Amount (RM) |
|---|---|
| Individual & dependent relatives | 9,000 |
| Life insurance & EPF | 4,000 |
| Total | 13,000 |
Given by your status on Form BE; the employee EPF contribution is estimated at 11% of salary and claimed under Life insurance & EPF.
The receipt-based reliefs that matter most here
| Relief | Cap (RM) | Example receipts (RM) | Given (RM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lifestyle | 2,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| Medical check-up & mental health | 1,000 | – | – |
| SOCSO / EIS contributions | 350 | – | – |
| PRS & deferred annuity | 3,000 | – | – |
| SSPN net savings | 8,000 | – | – |
| Education & medical insurance | 4,000 | – | – |
Caps from LHDN's YA2026 table. Example amounts are typical spending; the “Given” column is what the engine allows after caps and shared caps.
The tax at different salaries in the same situation
| Monthly salary | Automatic reliefs | Tax, no receipts | PCB a month | Effective rate | Marginal rate | Tax with full Lifestyle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RM2,500 | 12,300 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1% | 0 |
| RM3,000 | 12,960 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 3% | 0 |
| RM3,500 | 13,000 | 20 | 0 | 0% | 3% | 0 |
| RM4,000 | 13,000 | 200 | 17 | 0.26% | 3% | 125 |
| RM5,000 | 13,000 | 1,320 | 110 | 1.95% | 6% | 1,170 |
| RM6,000 | 13,000 | 2,490 | 208 | 3.08% | 11% | 2,215 |
| RM8,000 | 13,000 | 6,170 | 514 | 5.93% | 19% | 5,695 |
| RM10,000 | 13,000 | 11,150 | 929 | 8.77% | 25% | 10,525 |
| RM15,000 | 13,000 | 26,150 | 2,179 | 14.18% | 25% | 25,525 |
| RM20,000 | 13,000 | 41,150 | 3,429 | 16.89% | 25% | 40,525 |
Monthly salary × 12; the same example receipts at every level. Refund = the PCB your employer deducts (without receipts) versus the real tax with receipts — which is why keeping receipts brings money back.
A single employee with no other reliefs starts paying tax at roughly RM3,450 a month for YA2026.
Why the numbers come out this way
Malaysian personal income tax is progressive: chargeable income is split into bands, each band taxed at its own rate (top rate 30%), and the RM400 rebate is deducted when chargeable income is no more than RM35,000. The marginal rate is the rate of your top band — the value of every ringgit of relief; the effective rate is tax divided by income — the true picture of your burden, which is far lower.
Before a single receipt, every employee gets the Individual & dependent relatives relief of RM9,000 and employee EPF at 11% of salary under Life insurance & EPF (up to its sub-limit) — that is the automatic-reliefs column. Employers deduct the monthly PCB from exactly these figures; everything you add with receipts becomes a refund after filing.
Tips for this situation
- Use the marginal rate, not the effective rate, to judge a receipt: at 6% every RM2,500 of lifestyle relief is worth enough to keep.
- A pay rise that crosses into a new band does not “eat” your salary — only the ringgit above the band boundary are taxed at the new rate.
- Bonuses and taxable allowances add to the yearly salary: find your “equivalent” level in the table by dividing the yearly total by 12.
- A family, a non-working spouse and children change the automatic-reliefs column — see the other situations below for their figures.
How ListBelanja handles it for you
- Enter your gross salary once — the app's PCB calculator shows the monthly deduction and yearly tax from the same table.
- Every scanned receipt lowers the tax estimate immediately and shows the remaining cap of its category.
- When the EA form arrives, scanning it fills in the real salary, PCB and EPF — this table becomes your own numbers.
Planning estimates from the ListBelanja engine with LHDN YA2026 data — not an official assessment; your real circumstances may differ. Work it out with your own numbers in the free calculator or the app.
Frequently asked questions
At what salary do I start paying income tax?
For a single employee with no other reliefs, YA2026 tax starts at roughly RM3,450 a month — after the Individual & dependent relatives relief, employee EPF and the RM400 rebate. Receipt-based reliefs push that threshold higher.
RM5,000 a month — how much tax a year?
RM1,320 a year without receipts (PCB about RM110 a month), or RM1,170 when the RM2,500 Lifestyle cap is fully used — effective rate 1.95%, marginal 6% for YA2026.
What is the difference between the effective and marginal rate?
The marginal rate is the rate of your top income band — the value of every extra ringgit of relief. The effective rate is total tax divided by total income — the real burden, always lower because the first bands are taxed at low or zero rates.