Malaysia gazettes business-event tax exemption and proposes extension

The gazetted relief and proposed extension differ

The Income Tax (Organizing Incentive Trips, Conferences and Trade Exhibitions of International Standard) (Exemption) Order 2026 was made on 24 September. Paragraph 1(2) specifies assessment years 2026 and 2027. Appendix 29 of the Budget proposes three further assessment years; that future extension is not enacted by this order.^[1][2]

The order invokes paragraph 127(3)(b) of the Income Tax Act 1967, Act 53. In the Attorney General’s Chambers text updated to 1 January 2026, that provision permits statutory orders exempting classes of persons, generally or for specified income. The dated text expressly states that it is not an authentic reprint. Paragraph 6 of the new order revokes the Income Tax (Exemption) (No. 53) Order 2000, P.U.(A) 500/2000.^[1][3]

Entity and participant conditions

A qualifying person must be resident in Malaysia and be a company incorporated under the Companies Act 2016 or an association or organisation registered under the Societies Act 1966. The activity must promote or organise international-standard incentive trips, conferences or trade exhibitions for foreign participants in Malaysia. Non-Malaysian citizens resident in Malaysia are excluded from the foreign-participant definition.^[1]

Paragraph 4 sets separate minimum totals in the basis period for an assessment year: 1,500 foreign participants for incentive trips, 2,000 for conferences or 3,000 for trade exhibitions. The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture must verify the participant total. These are category-specific annual thresholds, not a single attendance threshold for each individual event.^[1]

Income, records and group planning

The exemption concerns qualifying statutory income: fees and other payments from the activity after allowable expenses and any capital allowances, rather than gross receipts. Separate accounts for qualifying income remain mandatory, as do the Act’s return, account and information requirements.^[1]

For multinational event businesses, the relevant organiser, its residence, participant classification and verification therefore matter alongside the assessment year. Overseas attendance alone does not establish qualification. Forecasts for 2028–2030 should distinguish the Budget proposal from the order’s stated 2026–2027 period; this focused report does not determine a particular group’s entitlement.^[1][2]