Overseas (remote) work taxed in Malaysia?

[Peté]

Hello all, I am new here and concdiring to apply... It is great to see so much shared information here. Feels like an active open source community! Many thanks for everybody contributing - I have got so much informartion from here, that I feel confident for appyling directly based on these advices.

Forgive me if I am repeating a previously answered question, but I was not able find the answer by searching...

I am under 50. I am planning to continue to do some work remotely to my home country. Also this work will require some visits back there, when all travelling and living expenses are compensated.

It is unclear for me if any part of that income will be taxed in Malaysia if in MM2H program. Does anyone of you have experience on this matter?

[donohue]

Hi Pete
welcome aboard.
There was some extensive discussion on the issue I believe around 2008 but on  a quick look I could not find the link.
In short Malaysia only taxes Malaysian source income. If you work remotely and are paid from that remote country then there is a question as to where the income is sourced. Remember you are  not allowed to work under the MM2H scheme so it is useful to argue that although physically present in Malaysia you are in fact "working" in another country.
The flip side is that you have to pay tax in the "remote" country. Check to see if your country of residence has a double tax agreement with Malaysia. That will govern matters to some extent.
I am sure others will weigh in and someone may have had professional advice on the subject.

I'll bet your next question will be on internet speed. (the remote worker's lifeblood.)

Good Luck

[papaya]

I am under 50. I am planning to continue to do some work remotely to my home country.

Hi Pete, I think there may be someone on this forum doing exactly that.  I'll give him a nudge if he doesn't post    By the way, when you've posted 10 times you can use the PM function.  I'm just thinking that someone might rather PM you rather than post on here - especially if it's a grey area. 

[Peté]

Thanks for the reply... I will keep on posting to reach that 10 hits

My work will not be paid by hours of spent, but rather  for the results and output. Actually my work and free time has always been greay area even for myself, because i can not just stop thinking some work related issues.

Basically I could say that most of the time I will spend at home doing some search and learning. I count it is more like education and self development... As a result of that I can then output my knowledge when I will be meeting my colleagues back home face to face.

I dont know how you see the "non working" clause, but I see that more like trying to keep MM2H patricipans out from Malaysian labour market, which is the case for most of the remote workers anyway: they will not take the work away from any locals here.