Any way to claim tax residency in Malaysia on a "tourist" visa ?

[nomad999]

Anyone familiar with Malaysia would be so kind as to share some insight on claiming tax residency past the 183 days requirement ? What would be the best way to achieve that without a working visa but a mere "Social Pass" visa (extended indefinitely with the covid circus) for the year 2020 ? I don't mind paying a thousand or two in tax if that can help.
The ultimate prize would be a residency certificate but at this point even a tax ID referenced on some kind of official government document would do ...

My passport is from one of the top 5 EU countries.

Malaysia has a territorial taxation system and don't tax capital gains / dividend / interest if I am not mistaken. The minimum taxable income is in the range of 5-10k USD taxed from 3% to 8%.

My brillant ideas so far ...
- What if I just show up at the tax office with just my 183 day in the country (great plan I know...) ?
- Declaring some kind of income, what documents would they request in that case ? Would a bank statement be enough like it seems to be the case in Thailand ? What the risk if I bend the truth on that ?
- Buying and selling a property in the country before the end of the year ?
- Some shenaningans around incorporating a company in Malaysia perhaps ?

Any idea or advice is most welcome !

 

[avalanche]

nomad999 said:
Anyone familiar with Malaysia would be so kind as to share some insight on claiming tax residency past the 183 days requirement ? What would be the best way to achieve that without a working visa but a mere "Social Pass" visa (extended indefinitely with the covid circus) for the year 2020 ? I don't mind paying a thousand or two in tax if that can help.
The ultimate prize would be a residency certificate but at this point even a tax ID referenced on some kind of official government document would do ...

My passport is from one of the top 5 EU countries.

Malaysia has a territorial taxation system and don't tax capital gains / dividend / interest if I am not mistaken. The minimum taxable income is in the range of 5-10k USD taxed from 3% to 8%.

My brillant ideas so far ...
- What if I just show up at the tax office with just my 183 day in the country (great plan I know...) ?
- Declaring some kind of income, what documents would they request in that case ? Would a bank statement be enough like it seems to be the case in Thailand ? What the risk if I bend the truth on that ?
- Buying and selling a property in the country before the end of the year ?
- Some shenaningans around incorporating a company in Malaysia perhaps ?

Any idea or advice is most welcome !
Click to expand...

Better find a local Malaysian lawyer or tax consultant who knows exactly what to do

 

[aquarius]

nomad999 said:
Anyone familiar with Malaysia would be so kind as to share some insight on claiming tax residency past the 183 days requirement ? What would be the best way to achieve that without a working visa but a mere "Social Pass" visa (extended indefinitely with the covid circus) for the year 2020 ? I don't mind paying a thousand or two in tax if that can help.
The ultimate prize would be a residency certificate but at this point even a tax ID referenced on some kind of official government document would do ...

My passport is from one of the top 5 EU countries.

Malaysia has a territorial taxation system and don't tax capital gains / dividend / interest if I am not mistaken. The minimum taxable income is in the range of 5-10k USD taxed from 3% to 8%.

My brillant ideas so far ...
- What if I just show up at the tax office with just my 183 day in the country (great plan I know...) ?
- Declaring some kind of income, what documents would they request in that case ? Would a bank statement be enough like it seems to be the case in Thailand ? What the risk if I bend the truth on that ?
- Buying and selling a property in the country before the end of the year ?
- Some shenaningans around incorporating a company in Malaysia perhaps ?

Any idea or advice is most welcome !
Click to expand...

Set up a company anywhere and pay yourself a salary in Malaysia

 

[nomad999]

avalanche said:
Better find a local Malaysian lawyer or tax consultant who knows exactly what to do
Click to expand...

hmm not as easy as it looks to find someone able to help for uncommon cases like this.

aquarius said:
Set up a company anywhere and pay yourself a salary in Malaysia
Click to expand...

yea but a few roadblock though, you would need a corporate bank account (a nightmare currently) and a personal bank account in Malaysia and from my research it appears to be very hard to open a bank account without proper residency or work permit. I am not sure they will accept a salary paid in a foreign bank.


was hoping someone might have gone through this before and could shed some light ...

 

[nomad999]

aquarius said:
Set up a company anywhere and pay yourself a salary in Malaysia
Click to expand...

after further research it seems any income earned outside of Malaysia is exempt from personal income tax, hence the territorial taxation ... so that wouldn't work unfortunately.

 

[fshore]

You can buy property there and get a tax id number.
To get a salary you'd need a work permit (hard to get).