Need information whether 15 K per month would be enough for a Family

It depends what industry you're in and what type of expat you are? If you are Western, grocery shopping is quite expensive, depending on your diet as most things are flown in.

What do you mean by "including accommodation, transport and tax"? Are you saying your net income is RM15k per month and you dont have any expenses apart from personal ones, such as buying food, mobile phone, possibly internet and TV, utilities?  If so, the salary is adequate but should be compared to your current salary and outgoings. You dont say where in India you come from, but the COL in KL is 40-60% higher, depending on your home town. The monthly cost for nursery will be maximum RM1500.

15 K is gross income and then I will have to spend for accommodation, transport,Tax, food etc. myself. I am from India and want to lead a decent life. Job is in Banking industry..

Rental RM 2,500-3,500
Car Rental RM1,500-2,000
Tax RM 2,267.50
Utilities RM 120
Mobile Phone RM 200
TV Internet packag RM 250
Food RM 1,000
Transport (petrol, train, taxi etc.) RM 200
Nursery RM 1,500 max

Thanks alot for an elaborate reply Gravitas!!!!

I wanted to know the Tax Structure also since I have been told that Tax is going to be held at 15% for initial 6 months and then on actual there after(Which as per them is close to 10%). Also a refund would be rendered at the end of the year and that would be the difference between advance collected Tax rate i.e. 15% and actual Tax i.e. 10%

I have been told that actual Tax that I am going to pay eventually is going to be almost 10% so just wanted to confirm whether this is right.

Also wanted to ask 2500 pm rent is considering which area and its proximity to business district..

Thanks!!!

When non-tax resident i.e. until you have lived and worked for 182 days in the first complete calendar year the rate is 25% flat

Tax steps on annual salary are:
                 2015
0-5,000                    0%                                                 
5,000-10,000      1% RM50
10,001-20,000    1%  +RM50
20,001-35,000    5%  +RM750
35,001-50,000   10%  +RM1,500
50,001-70,000   16% +RM3,200
70,001-100,000   21% +RM6,300
100,001-250,000  24% +RM36,000
250,001-400,000  24.5% +RM36,750
Exceeding 400 000  25%  (+?)

I thought this included accommodation. It depends where you live and your family expenditure.

Housing costs depend on location, size, and age. The tax information you have received is incorrect. See the actual scale above.

They lie!!
KL is not a cheap place to live compared to other parts of Asia. Dep on where you live you must think about traveling costs for work etc Like G said, day care or nursery costs a lot in the city plus your wife can't work. Well she can depending if the job offers her a work pass, but then is it worth paying the child care etc

I would be there at least for an year and most probably more than that. So in this case, I would be charged 25% ( 15000 * 25% = 3750) for first six months and 1% + RM 50 (15000*1% + RM 50 = RM 200) for the next six months...Right or I would be charged 25% throughout the year???

Also what i understood from your post is that there is no concept of tax refund if a person works in Malaysia for even an year or more..right??

They will arrange a Malaysian Employment Pass for me (Just for getting the calculations right)

I'm not an expert. But...in my experience the tax is 26 % for the fist like 182 days then it is lower, but not exactly sure if it's 13% or 17% or something in between. Apparently you can claim some of it back..somehow? So basically, if you live frugally, you may be able to save. It depends on your lifestyle.

GS think again and look at the tax cuts as an annual amount divided by 12. So for the first 6 months you should pay 25% (some firms dont deduct at this rate because they are either ignorant of tax rules, or think they just apply the annual rates from day 1). This can lead to very expensive tax bills if the Ts & Cs are not followed. 

So text book approach is you pay 25% on your monthly salary from January through June. From July onwards you pay the rates mentioned on the scale, i.e. 2,267.50 per month. When you file your tax return in April 2016, you will receive a refund of the difference between the 25% paid in months 1-6 and  as long as you havent broken the rules i.e. left the country on social visit lasting more than 14 days. If this happens, the 182 day count is zero'ed and starts all over again. So the refund will be approx. RM 17,790. All  these figures are ball park, because there are a couple of allowances foreigners can claim but they dont make a lot of difference.

The flat rate was 26% in 2014, but is going down to 25% in 2015. The tax scale has also been reduced at the lower few tiers.

Thanks for the info Gravitas!!!!

Hi,
Reading this thread with interest! 

I expect to be in KL for 12+ months starting around February.
My total annual gross salary would be in one of the brackets above 100,000.
I've been told that as a non-Malaysian my effective tax rate for the year would be 13%. Is this possible because it seems I would be in the mid-20s averaging over the whole year (assuming I understand correctly)?

Gravitas, what did you mean when you wrote
"as long as you havent broken the rules i.e. left the country on social visit lasting more than 14 days"
Does it mean you get penalized if you leave for >14 day holiday?

There is a tax treaty between my current country-of-residence and Malaysia, so I am also assuming any income in 2014 in my current country, before I move to Malaysia and become a Malaysian employee will count towards total taxable in 2014 in Malaysia too.

Thanks

Patrickstevens, lets straighten out your thinking.  2014 is almost over so you pay no tax for that calendar year (which is also a tax year as they follow Jan-Dec 12 months).

The tax rates are stepped i.e. you pay a lower percentage on the lower proportion of your salary. If you earn more than one of the lower slabs you move up level by level and ADD the rate for the next slab.  If your salary is over RM100k per annum (Jan-Dec) you pay:

1% RM50                Total RM50
1%  +RM50             Total RM100
5%  +RM750           Total RM850   
10%  +RM1,500       Total RM2350
16% +RM3,200        Total RM5550
21% +RM6,300        Total RM11850
24% +RM?              Work out 24% x salary above RM100,000 and add this to RM11850

Then divide the above total by 12 to find the monthly deduction.

If you are paid salary in Malaysia you pay income tax in Malaysia. The treaty is a double tax treaty which only permits you to NOT pay double tax. You will be deducted tax automatically in Malaysia and its up to you to sort out if you also pay tax on it in another country.

The 14 day holiday is during the 182 period you first work in Malaysia when you are considered non tax resident and pay a flat 25% income rate.  If you leave for longer on a leisure break the clock starts from zero again. That's all the rules mean. However, one big trap that many people fall into is believing they can holiday as much as they like at the end of the 182 day qualifying period.  Unfortunately not. Once again when you do your tax return you have to account for any absences outside the country in the second 182 days i.e. July-Dec.

There are no special tax rates for foreigners so you are misinformed (about everything). You could argue that while you are non tax resident you are treated as a "foreigner" but it would be the same for a Malaysian returning to their home country and everyone pays the flat rate of 25%. You can claim overpayment for the year 2015 when you file your tax claim for that year in April 2016. Some companies dont deduct the flat rate and start you off at normal tax steps. However, this can lead to under payment of tax and a nasty surprise the following year !!

Hi Gravitas,
Thanks for the detailed answer. 2014 was my typo, I intended to write 2015.
I believe the tax calculation is clear now.
Regarding the 14 days, does this also apply in cases of valid business travel, e.g travel to company's head office in Europe? Or just for leisure travel, e.g. family holiday in Thailand?

Just leisure travel.

Hi,

I've been offered a salary of 26K per month (MYR) as a Principal of an international school in KL, from which I have to pay everything (tax, housing, EPF, transport etc). My calculations suggest I will be left with about 11K per month after paying everything (tax of 6500 based on 25%, EPF of 2900, Housing of 5000), and I have a wife and 3 kids.
The initial salary seemed pretty good, but having calculated all of the expenditure, I'm not so sure anymore. It's about 40% less than I am left with after outgoings in my current post (Headteacher in Middle East). However, I'm also led to believe that living expenses (after housing) in KL are much cheaper.
Should I be expecting more, or is this about average for the position in KL?

Mr Principle - if you want to live in the Far East - go for it

only downside is cost of education for your kids