The final rules says that to get the exemption on tax on remitted foreign income the income has to have been subject to tax in another country. You should check the gazetted rules published in July.
So yes you are right. Strangely enough, I've spent this whole morning asking different accountants, lawyers, and people, and nobody is aware of this. Like wtf but you seem to be correct. In July they gazetted the final rules looks like. The remitted income should be taxed in another country with a minimum of 15% to avoid being taxed in Malaysia. But it only applies to remitted income to Malaysia so far. If kept outside, it will not be taxed (for now).
Can you recommend a
immigration agent?
I can recommend for peninsula MM2H, but I don't know any for S-MM2H
Is all that money frozen the whole time (say 10 year visa) or after a set time can it be withdrawn?
Yes, as long as you have the visa, the money has to be kept in the bank in a fixed deposit. For peninsula MM2H you can withdraw 50% after one year for expenses like buying a car, health insurance, buying a property, etc. You need to keep all receipts/invoices and then apply for a one-time withdrawal (banks are aware of this procedure and can help). This again is for regular MM2H. Not sure how S-MM2H works but I think it's similar.
I think I read some can be used to buy a car, could one sell the car after that and pocket the money or would it have to go back into a bank account?
You are free to do anything you like with the car, you can sell it the next day and keep the money if you wish. Once it's out of the fixed deposit, there is no need to put it back.
Also I am just learning about what happens if I change residency in regards to
IBKR. If i move to Malaysia does my Canadian IBKR account have to be transferred to the Malaysia IBKR? If so is that still considered foreign income if i sell USA stocks, or would that now be considered Malaysian income?
I'm not really sure about this one. From my understanding (again, not sure about this) if the stocks are from a stock market outside of Malaysia, then it's a foreign source income. Only if the stocks are from Malaysia local bursa, then they are considered local income. But better double-check this one.
What do you recommend for banking (Malaysian bank?) Is it advantageous to select a bank that will allow me access to Singapore for lees of a deposit (or is that even possible?)
Usually, for foreigners, a foreign bank is recommended (Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered, etc). They know and understand foreign customers better, and it's usually easier to access and use (plus you avoid the long queues of the local banks). But that is up to you. The Singapore question I don't really understand. If you mean about opening a bank account in Singapore, I know for example in HSBC if you are a premier customer, they facilitate opening bank accounts in other countries. Facilitate doesn't mean they always open. They only open if they see you have valid reasons and you pass their whatever checks they do in the other country.
Can you expound on the methods to avoid paying full tax on dividends, I am interested as obviously I would prefer to retain more of my funds.
You need to buy equivalent stocks or indexes domiciled in countries that have tax treaties with Malaysia. To give you an example, if you are interested in the S&P500 index, instead of buying the SPY from the USA, you can buy the VUSD in the London Stock Exchange which is domiciled in Ireland (this is not investment advice, so do your diligence before buying anything) so IBKR will not take US withholding tax from any dividends (if any).
