Relief by situation · YA2026
Family with 2 children, both parents working: YA2026 tax reliefs
Two children under 18, you on RM6,500 a month and your spouse on RM4,500. Each child brings the Child under 18 relief of RM2,000 automatically, but the real question for a working couple is who should claim the children and the childcare, education-insurance and lifestyle receipts so the family's tax is lowest — this page works all of it out.
In short: With you claiming both children, your automatic reliefs come to RM17,000; RM8,300 of example receipts cut your tax from RM2,710 to RM1,797 for YA2026. Your employer deducts about RM2,710 of PCB a year, so after filing with receipts you get a refund of about RM913. Worked out as a family, separate assessment saves RM7,318, and the child reliefs save most when claimed by you.
- Automatic reliefs
- RM17,000
- Tax with example receipts
- RM1,797
- Estimated PCB refund
- RM913
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) |
|---|---|
| Child under 18 | 4,000 |
| Individual & dependent relatives | 9,000 |
| Life insurance & EPF | 4,000 |
| Total | 17,000 |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Childcare & kindergarten fees | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| Education & medical insurance | 4,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| Lifestyle | 2,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| Medical check-up & mental health | 1,000 | 800 | 800 |
| SSPN net savings | 8,000 | – | – |
| Serious illness, fertility, vaccination & dental | 10,000 | – | – |
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 | Tax with receipts | Saved | PCB refund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RM4,600 | 17,000 | 792 | 47 | 745 | 745 |
| RM6,500 | 17,000 | 2,710 | 1,797 | 913 | 913 |
| RM9,100 | 17,000 | 7,918 | 6,341 | 1,577 | 1,577 |
| RM13,000 | 17,000 | 19,150 | 17,075 | 2,075 | 2,075 |
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.
Husband & wife: who should claim, separate or joint?
You RM6,500 a month, your spouse RM4,500 a month, example receipts shared. Separate assessment: the optimiser splits every category and the child reliefs so the family's total tax is lowest; joint assessment: incomes combined under one name (that spouse gets the husband/wife relief, the other's individual relief is lost).
| Option | You (RM) | Spouse (RM) | Total tax (RM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Separate assessment (optimised split) | 1,797 | 960 | 2,757 |
| Joint assessment | 10,075 | – | 10,075 |
Engine result: separate assessment saves RM7,318 a year. The child reliefs save most when claimed by: you.
The most tax-efficient split of the example receipts:
- Lifestyle: you RM2,500 · your spouse RM0
- Education & medical insurance: you RM2,000 · your spouse RM0
- Medical check-up & mental health: you RM800 · your spouse RM0
- Childcare & kindergarten fees: you RM3,000 · your spouse RM0
Why the numbers come out this way
The under-18 child relief is RM2,000 per child and can be claimed 100% by one parent or split 50:50. Because the rates are progressive and the RM400 rebate is only given when chargeable income is no more than RM35,000, moving the child reliefs to the spouse whose chargeable income sits near the rebate threshold sometimes saves more than giving them to the higher earner — the engine tests all three options and keeps the lowest.
Household receipts can be claimed by whoever pays: Childcare & kindergarten fees fees (cap RM3,000), Education & medical insurance premiums (cap RM4,000) and Lifestyle (cap RM2,500 per person — two people means two caps). Joint assessment combines both incomes under one name and loses one RM9,000 individual relief; with both working it is almost always dearer, as the couple table below shows.
Tips for this situation
- Pay registered childcare or kindergarten fees from the account of the person who will claim them, and ask for the receipt in that name — the Childcare & kindergarten fees cap is RM3,000 a year.
- The Lifestyle cap of RM2,500 is per person: buy books, a phone or the internet subscription separately so both caps get used.
- Child reliefs need no receipt, but decide 100% or 50:50 before filing — both returns must match.
- Children's vaccinations and check-ups fall under Serious illness, fertility, vaccination & dental and Medical check-up & mental health — keep clinic receipts even when small.
How ListBelanja handles it for you
- Create one family group in the app and invite your spouse — every receipt either of you scans lands in one family record.
- The household tax optimiser assigns each receipt and the child reliefs to whoever saves the most, explaining every move.
- At e-Filing time each of you gets your own Form BE with the already-split figures — no double claims.
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
Who should claim the child relief when both parents work?
For this profile — you RM6,500, your spouse RM4,500 a month — the engine finds the child reliefs save most when claimed by you. The answer depends on each person's chargeable income relative to the RM35,000 rebate threshold; the optimiser in the app recalculates it for your own numbers.
Is joint assessment cheaper for a two-income family?
For this profile, separate assessment with the optimised split totals RM2,757 against RM10,075 jointly — separate assessment saves RM7,318. Joint assessment loses one RM9,000 individual relief and pushes the combined income into higher rate bands.
How much refund can we expect?
For the main claimant with RM8,300 of example receipts: Your employer deducts about RM2,710 of PCB a year, so after filing with receipts you get a refund of about RM913.