Stamp Duty Malaysia 2026 for a Factory or Industrial Land: How It Is Calculated, With Rawang, Serendah and Shah Alam Examples

Key Takeaways

• Stamp duty on a factory or industrial land purchase is charged on the transfer (Form 14A, often called the MOT) at 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% in bands. The value used is the price or the market value, whichever is greater (Stamp Act 1949, Item 32(a)).
• Above RM1 million there is a quick way to check the figure: 4% of the value minus RM16,000. On the JPPH-registered median price of a semi-detached factory in Rawang and Kundang, RM4.3 million, that is RM156,000.
• The bank loan agreement adds 0.5% of the loan (RM5 per RM1,000), with a lower scale for a small and medium enterprise.
• A foreign company, non-citizen or non-permanent resident pays a flat 4% on a factory or industrial land. The 8% rate that started on 1 January 2026 applies to residential property only (PwC Malaysian Tax Booklet).
• Stamping is due within 30 days of signing, and transfers of real property not involving a JPPH valuation move to self-assessment on 1 January 2027 (LHDN, STSDS).

How is stamp duty calculated when you buy a factory?

Stamp duty in Malaysia is a tax on documents, not on deals. When you buy a factory, a warehouse or a piece of industrial land, three documents matter: the sale and purchase agreement (SPA), the instrument of transfer (Form 14A) and, if you borrow, the loan agreement and charge. An SPA for land normally carries only the fixed RM10 duty under Item 4 of the First Schedule, so the large amount falls on the transfer (Stamp Act 1949).

The transfer is charged under Item 32(a) for every RM100 or part of RM100 of the price or the market value of the property, whichever is the greater:

Part of the value	Rate	Duty on that part
First RM100,000	1%	RM1,000
RM100,001 to RM500,000	2%	up to RM8,000
RM500,001 to RM1,000,000	3%	up to RM15,000
Above RM1,000,000	4%	4% of the amount above RM1 million

The duty on the first RM1 million is therefore always RM24,000. Above that, multiply the full value by 4% and take off RM16,000. A RM2 million factory pays RM80,000 less RM16,000, which is RM64,000. Each band only applies to the part of the value inside it, so there is no step where one extra ringgit of price lifts the duty on the whole amount.

The scale is the same for a terrace factory, a detached factory, a warehouse or vacant industrial land: it follows the value, not the type of building. The buyer pays it. The Third Schedule of the Act names the grantee or transferee as the person liable for a conveyance.

How much stamp duty on a factory in Rawang, Serendah or Shah Alam?

The table applies the scale to JPPH-registered median prices for the 24 months to August 2026, as aggregated on FactoryHub's industrial transactions page. These are medians of the deals recorded so far, not every unit sold, and the duty shown is for a Malaysian buyer with no exemption.

JPPH-registered median, 24 months to August 2026	Median price	Stamp duty on the transfer
Serendah terrace factory	RM245,000	RM3,900
Rawang and Kundang terrace factory	RM670,000	RM14,100
Shah Alam terrace factory	RM1.13 million	RM29,200
Rawang and Kundang industrial land	RM2.6 million	RM88,000
Rawang and Kundang semi-detached factory	RM4.3 million	RM156,000
Shah Alam semi-detached factory	RM5.92 million	RM220,800

Two things I point out when I go through these numbers with a buyer. The registered sale figures per sq ft on those pages are per sq ft of land, so a psf figure alone does not give you the price of a unit: you need the lot size first. And the duty grows quickly once a deal passes RM1 million, because every further RM100,000 adds RM4,000. For the places themselves, see my pages on Rawang, Serendah and factories for sale in Shah Alam.

How much is the stamp duty on the factory loan?

Item 27(a) charges the principal loan or charge document at RM5 for every RM1,000 of the loan, which is 0.5%. A RM3 million factory loan pays RM15,000. The Third Schedule makes the chargor, the borrower, liable (Stamp Act 1949).

A manufacturer can pay less if it is a small and medium enterprise under the Act's own definition: for manufacturing, sales turnover not exceeding RM50 million or full-time employees not exceeding 200. For an SME the rate is RM0.50 per RM1,000 on the first RM250,000 of its total loans in a calendar year, RM2.50 per RM1,000 on the next part up to RM1,000,000, and RM5 per RM1,000 after that. On the same RM3 million loan that is RM12,000 instead of RM15,000. Ask the bank's lawyer whether your company qualifies before the loan documents are stamped.

Legal fees are a separate cost. FactoryHub's legal fees and stamp duty calculator puts the transfer duty, the loan duty and the lawyer's scale fees on one page.

What happens if the price is below market value?

Because the duty is on the price or the market value, whichever is greater, a low price does not lower the duty when the value is higher. LHDN's Stamp Duty Office refers the transfer form to JPPH, which reports the market value within one working day for a standard case and five working days for a non-standard one, and LHDN then charges duty on that valuation (JPPH, stamp duty valuation).

This matters most for factories sold between related parties, from a director to their own company, or by a seller who needs cash quickly. Say a factory changes hands at RM3.5 million and the valuation comes back at RM4.3 million. The duty is RM156,000, not RM124,000, so the buyer pays RM32,000 more than the price suggested.

If you disagree, section 38A of the Act gives 30 days from the assessment to file a written notice of objection with your grounds, and JPPH asks that objections on its valuation go to the Stamp Duty Office with a copy to JPPH. A further appeal goes to the High Court as a case referred by the Stamp Duty Office. In January 2026 the law firm Allen & Gledhill reported a High Court decision, Lagenda Mersing Sdn Bhd v Pemungut Duti Setem, holding that the Collector does not have to adopt the JPPH valuation automatically and that market value is judged on all the evidence (Allen & Gledhill). Independent valuations carried that case, so keep your own valuation report and the comparable sales.

When must it be paid, and what changes with self-assessment?

Instruments signed in Malaysia must be stamped within 30 days of execution. Late stamping costs RM50 or 10% of the deficient duty, whichever is higher, if done within three months after the deadline, and RM100 or 20% after that (LHDN, stamp duty penalty). An unstamped transfer will not be acted on by a public officer, so the land office will not register it.

LHDN is moving stamping to self-assessment (STSDS) in three phases (LHDN):

Phase	From	Instruments
1	1 January 2026	Leases and tenancies, security (loan) instruments, general stamping
2	1 January 2027	Transfer of real property not involving JPPH valuation
3	1 January 2028	All other instruments

Under self-assessment the duty payer or an appointed agent files the return on MyTax, works out the duty, pays, and keeps the instrument and its records for seven years. The return is treated as the Collector's assessment at the moment it is filed. Under the amended Act the Collector can raise an additional assessment within five years of payment, and an incorrect return not made in good faith can bring a fine of RM1,000 to RM10,000 plus a special penalty equal to the unpaid duty (Rahmat Lim & Partners). Your conveyancing lawyer still prepares the figures. What changes is that an understated value is found later, at audit, instead of being corrected before stamping.

Does a company or a foreign buyer pay a different rate?

A Malaysian company pays the same 1% to 4% scale as a Malaysian individual. Foreign companies, non-citizens and non-permanent residents pay a flat 4% on property other than residential property (since 1 January 2024) and 8% on residential property (since 1 January 2026) (PwC). For a factory the 4% applies to the whole value: on the Rawang and Kundang semi-detached median of RM4.3 million that is RM172,000 instead of RM156,000. If your buying company is incorporated in Malaysia but has foreign shareholders, ask your lawyer which rate applies before you sign.

Two more points that come up with factory owners:

• Decide the buying name before you sign. Moving the factory from your own name into your Sdn Bhd later is a new transfer. If no proper price is paid, section 16 still charges it like a sale on the market value. The section 15A relief covers transfers between companies only, where one owns at least 90% of the other or a third company owns 90% of both, the transfer is for greater efficiency and the receiving company is incorporated in Malaysia, with conditions that run for three years after the transfer (Stamp Act 1949).
• The first-home exemption is not for factories. The full exemption on the transfer and loan agreement is for a Malaysian citizen's first residential home of not more than RM500,000 (PwC).

For tenure points that sit beside stamp duty, such as state consent on leasehold industrial land, see my guide on freehold vs leasehold factories. For the yearly cost after you buy, see quit rent on industrial land in Selangor, and for land deals, the industrial land for sale page.

What stamp duty does a factory tenant pay?

A tenancy is charged on the annual rent, by term, for every RM250 or part of it. Since 1 January 2025 the rates are RM1 for a term of up to one year, RM3 for more than one and up to three years, RM5 for more than three and up to five years, and RM7 for more than five years (Rahmat Lim & Partners). The tenant pays the duty on the original agreement and the landlord on the counterpart.

Take the JPPH-registered median rent for a terrace factory in Shah Alam, RM4,400 a month, on a two-year term, which matches the typical registered term of 24 months. RM52,800 a year is 212 units of RM250, and 212 times RM3 is RM636. FactoryHub's tenancy stamp duty calculator works out other rents and terms. Before you sign, my checklist for renting a factory in Rawang covers the approvals and power supply to confirm.

How I put stamp duty into a buyer's cost sheet

When a buyer asks me what a factory in Rawang, Serendah or Shah Alam will cost on top of the price, I set these out before the SPA is signed:

1. The buying name: individual, Malaysian company or foreign company, because it decides the scale.
2. The transfer duty on the agreed price, and a second figure on a higher value if the price sits well below recent registered deals for the same type in the same area.
3. The loan duty, and whether the SME scale may apply.
4. The lawyer's fees for the SPA, the transfer and the loan, from the calculator.
5. Cash timing: the transfer duty is paid within 30 days of the transfer being signed, and the transfer cannot be registered until it is stamped, so the cash has to be ready early.

If you are pricing a factory or industrial land in Rawang, Serendah or Shah Alam and want the stamp duty worked into the full cost before you sign, WhatsApp Jason Low, Probationary Estate Agent PEA 1478 with CID Realtors, on +60 12-288 1834.