Do I get taxed on Amazon orders or Electronics when I fly in?

Hello, I will be moving to KL soon and have a few items which I am hoping to bring with me
- Laptop
- Camera
- PC Monitor
- PS
- TV & Home theatre (for argument's sake)

1. Do I get taxed on the above items if I fly in?

2, Do I get taxed on items I order from Amazon?
I tend to shop on Amazon the most buying various items - books, speakers, electronics accessories, outdoor gear, gift items, clothing etc... Simply because i hate shopping malls and driving around for days to find the right item......

Thanks

You may get taxed on stuff you bring by air if you cant show the invoices for them

I don't think Amazon has a delivery service to Malaysia, but I might be wrong. For example stuff with an electrical plug that can be used in Malaysia would need to come from the UK and not the US,, etc.

Yes, you will probably be taxed. Malaysia has very extensive online shopping and very good service. It can be difficult to receive mail and shipments when living in a condo unless they operate a system whereby the security will receive the stuff on your behalf. Otherwise you may have to collect.

Electrical goods are usually required to be tested for safety and compatibility with local energy supply so you may find electronics are stopped by customs for this purpose. You are charged for the testing to get the compliance sticker.

Oh wow that's odd, convertors these days pretty much make everything universal friendly.. as for shopping, aramex has a shop&ship service for  amazon which I use all the time to deliver items to my house in bahrain

On second thought, what are the good / reliable online shops in malaysia - outdoor good and electronics? Haven't really found any tbh

Depends what you are looking for.

Well, ive brought tons of stuff on the planes and never was taxed or checked. I was in panic on my first trip but I read on a government site that since 1996 there is no tax on the items you mentioned. And I have never paid any nor brought any receipts. PCs and all that are exempt.

This is about items that are yours, it does NOT apply to goods intended for resale. That opens a huge headache. I even shipped commercial restaurant equipment and paid no tax which seemed strange.

For voltage, my USA electronics that are 110-220V 50-60hz, those plug right in with just a plug adapter and I never had any failures, fires or explosions. For 110V stuff, I also brought from US "step-up, step-down transformers" of varying capacities and use those with no issues. I have a 100W, 250W, 500W and 1000W. The 500W is the most used since you are doubling the capacity for the intended wattage. An item marked 200W needs a 500W transformer and that covers nearly everything.

But then, if you are already on 220-240V in your country, then you only need a converter to change from 60hz to 50hz unless your items are already marked 50-60hz. Most all electronics today are world voltage, like laptops, so there is no worry. Read the labels.

For things shipped to you, that you didnt bring, hard to say what will happen. My family has shipped me all sorts of stuff and I simply got notice of the package at my door and went to the post to pick it up. Sometimes they ask whats inside, sometimes no, but never once tax. Once, they asked to see, i opened the package and they inspected and discussed computer parts, a GPS, stuff like that and let me go.

Remember we are talking about your own goods, not commercial goods which may be subject to tax, regulations and probably the need for an Approved Permit, SIRIM approvals and I dont even want to get into that. Twenty Garmin GPSs in sealed boxes are not personal household goods.

For shopping, before you bring anything, search online for local sellers and check their prices. You may find you prefer to wait and buy things here, depends. You will find lelong.com.my, Qoo10.com, lazada.com, etc.

Oh! As a travel tip, separate all batteries from their housings and put them in carry-on. Last trip, I brought a camcorder in my carry-on but the batteries were in the check-in. All were stolen away by airport security during scans after check-in. That was a huge task to buy batteries again. Take all batteries of all types and put them in a clear plastic bag in your carry-on so they can be seen during your security checks, same like toiletries. Do not check-in phones or anything having internally fixed batteries, you can lose them.

Last thing, careful about bringing food items. Last time, airport personnel searched my check-ins during the trip and ate several food gifts and left me the mostly-empty packages. Nice.

If you are putting a big box with a home cinema system through the checked luggage there are four possibilities - 1) you will never see it again, 3) it will be broken,  3) you will not be given it until you declare it and pay import duty, and 4) you take if off the baggage claim belt but are stopped in customs and investigated.