Books relief for tax

Ok, I admit it - I haven't filed my taxes yet. And there's only a few days left! (Panic!) But at least I got my book purchase receipts in one place. You probably already know that we are entitled for relief of maximum RM1000 per person for purchase of books and magazines. I think this is a very good initiative by the Malaysian government and should be continued, because I do know of people who buy more books (than what they would otherwise do) because of the relief.

The net ringgit value depends on your tax bracket. If you are in the highest bracket, say, which is 26%, you would be paying RM260 less if you manage to get RM1000 worth of receipts. Put in another way, you bought RM1000 worth of books at the price of RM740! So, a simple tip is, if you and your spouse are filing your taxes separately, and the amount of books you both purchased didn't reach RM2000, make sure the maximum amount (RM1000) is reported by the the one with the higher bracket.

Sometimes, when a book seller (from a specific group which I would not mention) come to my office and set up their booth at the lobby, they would put in big words there: "Eligible for tax relief!" How annoying! As if the tax relief is only limited to selected books only.

Anyway, here's the e-filing and LHDN links for your reference.