Relief by situation · YA2026
Non-working spouse: tax reliefs and who should claim — YA2026
One income of RM7,000 a month supports a spouse and two children. Here there is no who-should-claim question: every relief — individual, Spouse / alimony, children, EPF — and every receipt sits in your own Form BE, and they add up to RM21,000 before a single receipt. This page shows the real tax, and what changes if your spouse takes part-time work.
In short: Your automatic reliefs of RM21,000 include the Spouse / alimony relief of RM4,000 and two children; with RM7,500 of example receipts, the YA2026 tax falls from RM2,930 to RM2,105. Your employer deducts about RM2,930 of PCB a year, so after filing with receipts you get a refund of about RM825.
- Automatic reliefs
- RM21,000
- Tax with example receipts
- RM2,105
- Estimated PCB refund
- RM825
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 |
| Spouse / alimony | 4,000 |
| Total | 21,000 |
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 |
| Education & medical insurance | 4,000 | 2,400 | 2,400 |
| SSPN net savings | 8,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| Medical check-up & mental health | 1,000 | 600 | 600 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RM4,900 | 21,000 | 768 | 0 | 768 | 768 |
| RM7,000 | 21,000 | 2,930 | 2,105 | 825 | 825 |
| RM9,800 | 21,000 | 8,754 | 7,329 | 1,425 | 1,425 |
| RM14,000 | 21,000 | 21,150 | 19,275 | 1,875 | 1,875 |
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.
If your spouse starts part-time work
You RM7,000 a month, your spouse RM1,500 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) | 2,545 | 0 | 2,545 |
| Joint assessment | 4,365 | – | 4,365 |
Engine result: separate assessment saves RM1,820 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 RM2,400 · your spouse RM0
- Medical check-up & mental health: you RM600 · your spouse RM0
- SSPN net savings: you RM2,000 · your spouse RM0
Why the numbers come out this way
The Spouse / alimony relief of RM4,000 is given when your spouse has no income or elects joint assessment; it goes into your own Form BE, not your spouse's. The spouse rebate is also added to your own rebate when chargeable income is no more than RM35,000. Together with two children (RM2,000 each), the RM9,000 individual relief and EPF, your chargeable income becomes RM55,500.
Because there is only one claimant, every household receipt counts against your caps alone: Lifestyle RM2,500, Education & medical insurance RM4,000, SSPN net savings RM8,000. Once your spouse earns even part-time income, the Spouse / alimony relief leaves your assessment unless you elect joint assessment — the “if your spouse starts part-time work” table shows which option costs less.
Tips for this situation
- Make sure the status “married, spouse with no income” is set correctly on Form BE — the Spouse / alimony relief and the spouse rebate depend on it.
- SSPN net savings savings in a child's name (cap RM8,000 net a year) is the biggest relief single-income families most often leave unclaimed.
- Education & medical insurance premiums for the children (cap RM4,000) are separate from the life-insurance cap — do not mix them.
- If your spouse is about to take part-time work, run the numbers first: a small income can remove a relief worth more than it brings in.
How ListBelanja handles it for you
- Enter your family status once in the Tax data wizard — the Spouse / alimony relief, children and spouse rebate are worked out from then on.
- Scan SSPN, education-insurance and lifestyle receipts through the year; the app shows the balance of each cap so you know when it is full.
- The e-Filing view lists every Form BE box in MyTax order with a Copy button.
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
Non-working spouse — on whose form does the husband/wife relief go?
On your Form BE (the person with income): mark married with a spouse who has no income, and the Spouse / alimony relief of RM4,000 is given automatically. A spouse with no income at all does not need to file.
If my spouse starts part-time work at RM1,500 a month, does our tax go up?
The engine compares: separate assessment RM2,545 against joint RM4,365 — separate assessment saves RM1,820. Your spouse's own income is usually untaxed thanks to their individual relief, but you lose the Spouse / alimony relief unless you elect joint assessment.
What PCB refund does this situation get?
Your employer deducts about RM2,930 of PCB a year, so after filing with receipts you get a refund of about RM825. Your employer already counts the spouse and children in the PCB, so the refund comes from the receipts alone.