Did you become a vehicle owner for the first time? If that’s the case, we congratulate you and hope the car will serve you well. Apart from enjoying driving the vehicle, it’s vital to be a responsible driver and honor all regulations. In Malaysia, road tax is mandatory for all car owners. If you are unsure about this tax, here is a detailed guide on what you should know about it.
What Is Road Tax?
A road tax is mandatory by Malaysian law. The government asks you to pay this tax to use public roads in this country. The idea is to use the money collected to renew and improve road infrastructure. Malaysia isn’t the only country with this tax, and you’ll often find it in other countries. If you don’t pay the road tax, the authorities can fine you. If the police stop you from checking your license and vehicle and seeing that you didn’t pay, they’ll write you a fine. Once you pay this tax, the authorities issue a sticker. You place that sticker on the vehicle’s windscreen. That way, the police can see it when they stop you.
Is My Road Tax Sticker Permanent?
You will notice the expiration date on your sticker. That marks the date until which you paid the road tax. You need to renew the sticker before the expiration. It’s the only way to ensure you don’t risk being without a valid sticker.
Malaysian car owners have two options for paying a road tax:
- Six-month payments
- 12-month payments
Most users decide on the second option to avoid going through this hassle too often. The government allows renewing your road tax up to two months before the expiration date.
How To Calculate Your Road Tax?
The tax you pay depends on the vehicle you are driving. Another thing to note is that the prices are different for peninsular Malaysia and Sabah & Sarawak.
Peninsular Malaysia
You’ll find that the saloon cars are in the first insurance category. These include convertibles, coupes, wagons, hatchbacks, and sedans. It’s irrelevant if you have diesel or petrol engines. In Peninsular Malaysia, there’s a fixed payment for all engines up to 1,600CC. For stronger engines, the government applies a progressive rate where you pay depending on your exact engine capacity. Here is a table for saloon cars:
For example, 1,300CC and 1,400CC will pay 70RM. But a 2,000CC vehicle owner should pay 380RM, while the road tax for a 2,500CC vehicle costs 880RM. Now, the prices are higher if you have a company-registered car. You can expect to pay up to three times as much for a company vehicle. As for SUVs, MPVs, and pick-up trucks, the rates are lower. It’s worth noting that road tax remains the same for private and company-registered vehicles. Here is the table active in peninsular Malaysia:
Sabah & Sarawak
The road tax is more affordable in these areas, and there’s no difference between private and company-registered vehicles. Here is an overview for saloon cars:
And now the table for non-saloon vehicles:
We hope this guide covered all the basics and to make things easier for you, we created a road tax calculator here. Please remember road tax is mandatory, so make sure to pay and renew it on time.
