Malaysia bank adds 5% fees/taxes for international payments?

[Novice]

Hi

I have a client who says that every international payment (through banks, credit card, western union or any other method) has 5% fee/tax added automatically on top of payment.

Any idea what's this fee for?

Also, is trying to avoid paying this fee considered illegal? The client is not that open to talk about it, nor to see if it's actually required (legally.)

 

[Novice]

Anyone with financial/banking system experience in Malaysia?

 

[Runway]

The government decided to postpone taxation of foreign remittances

Malaysia Issues Tax Exemption for Foreign Sourced Income

The government has issued a tax exemption on foreign-sourced income for individual taxpayers, backtracking from their earlier proposal in the 2022 budget.

www.aseanbriefing.com

Malaysia announces foreign-sourced income exemptions for resident taxpayers until 2026

 

[Golden Fleece]

Malaysia continues to shoot itself in the foot. Too bad. It once had a great residency program. Now it seems intent on driving away both foreign residents and foreign investors.