How to File Borang B / BE for Rental Income in Malaysia (e-Filing Step-by-Step, 2026)
Filing rental income on LHDN’s e-Filing takes 30–45 minutes if your records are clean. Use Borang BE if rental is your only side income; Borang B if you have business income too. This guide walks through the screens, the deductions, and the receipts you need on hand.
Borang BE vs Borang B — Which Form?
The form depends on your income mix, not your rental amount.
| Form | Use If | Filing Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Borang BE | You have employment income + rental income only (no business) | 30 April (year of assessment + 1) |
| Borang B | You have business income + rental income (incl. small business / freelance / sole proprietor) | 30 June (year of assessment + 1) |
| Borang M | Non-resident filer (less than 182 days in Malaysia) | 30 April (foreign-rate) |
If you’re unsure, default to BE — most salaried landlords file BE. The rental section is identical between BE and B; only the supplementary business sections differ.
Before You Start — Documents You Need
Gather these before logging into e-Filing. Stopping mid-form to find a receipt is the #1 reason landlords mis-file.
- EA form / pay slips — for your employment income
- Annual rent received — total of all monthly rent collected (not invoiced)
- Quit rent + assessment receipts — annual MBSA / DBKL bills
- Property insurance receipts — landlord insurance, fire insurance
- Mortgage interest paid — the bank-issued tax certificate, not the principal portion
- Repair receipts — labour + materials, with contractor SST number where applicable
- Agent commission — if rented through an agent, with stamping fee receipt
- Tenancy stamp duty receipts — paid via e-Duti Setem
- Bank statements — proof of rent received (LHDN may audit)
For the deductible vs non-deductible distinction, see the full landlord deductions guide.
Step-by-Step: Filing Rental on Borang BE/B via e-Filing
Login to mytax.hasil.gov.my with your IC + LHDN PIN. New filers: register first via your nearest LHDN branch or e-Daftar.
- Select form (BE or B) based on your income mix.
- Personal particulars (Section A). Auto-filled if your IC is in the system; verify and correct.
- Statutory income — Employment (Section B1). Pull from your EA form. e-Filing auto-imports if employer submitted to LHDN.
- Statutory income — Rents Received (Section B5). This is the rental section. Three sub-fields:
- 5a — Gross rental income: total annual rent received
- 5b — Allowable deductions: sum of quit rent, assessment, insurance, interest, repairs, agent fees, stamp duty
- 5c — Net rental income: 5a minus 5b. e-Filing auto-calculates.
- Tax reliefs (Section D). Personal relief RM9,000, EPF up to RM4,000, life insurance, PRS, SOCSO etc. Auto-filled where possible.
- Tax payable (Section F). e-Filing computes from your aggregated income vs the bracket. Cross-check against your monthly PCB if salaried — refund or top-up appears here.
- Submit + pay (Section G). If tax payable > 0, pay via FPX, credit card, or over-the-counter. If refund, it processes 30–60 days post-submission.
Critical: save the e-Filing acknowledgement PDF + the bank/payment receipt. LHDN may audit up to 7 years back; you need this on hand.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
The 3 mistakes LHDN flags most often during audits — get these right and your filing should pass.
- Claiming improvements as repairs. Replacing a broken AC unit with same-spec = repair (deductible same year). Upgrading kitchen with higher-end materials = capital improvement (depreciation only, NOT same-year deduction). Mixing the two is the #1 audit flag.
- Deducting principal mortgage payment. Only the interest portion is deductible. Get the bank tax certificate; it splits interest from principal.
- Forgetting to declare rental at all. Cash rent + verbal agreement is still taxable income. LHDN cross-references with stamping records and bank deposits during audits. Declaring late but voluntarily incurs penalty + interest; not declaring is potentially criminal.
- Wrong year of assessment. Rental received in 2025 is filed in 2026 (year of assessment + 1). Don’t mix years.
- No supporting documents on file. Even if you don’t upload during e-Filing, LHDN can request later. Keep the folder organised — quit rent receipts, repair invoices, mortgage statement.
FAQ: Filing Rental on Borang B / BE
I rent out 1 unit to friends below market rate — do I still file?
Yes. Any rent received is taxable income, regardless of whether it’s “below market.” LHDN can re-assess at market rate if they believe you’re under-declaring to a related party — the safest approach is to charge market rate and document.
My rental made a loss — can I offset it against employment income?
Generally no. Rental losses can’t offset employment income in the same year. They CAN be carried forward and offset against future rental income from the same source. Document the loss with full deductions, file accurately.
Do I need to file if my rental income is small (e.g., RM6,000/year)?
You file if your TOTAL income (employment + rental + everything else) crosses the chargeable threshold (RM5,000+ chargeable income). Most salaried people are above the threshold from employment alone, so rental gets added on top. Don’t skip filing because rental alone seems small.
What if I lose receipts mid-year — can I still claim deductions?
Best practice: scan receipts to a Drive folder monthly. If you genuinely lost a few, you can typically reconstruct (request quit rent re-issue from the local council, mortgage interest from the bank). For lost minor repair receipts, file what you have — LHDN penalises false claims, not missing receipts.
Can I file rental for my parent / spouse on the same form?
If the property is jointly owned, each owner declares their share. If solely owned by one person, only they declare — even if their spouse files together. Spouses filing jointly (Borang BE married filing) still need to declare each rental owner separately.
For the deductibles list, see Malaysian landlord tax deductions guide. For BM-language tax content, see cukai pendapatan sewa panduan tuan rumah. For deduction-relevant repair documentation: repair cost tax deduction Malaysia.
Setting up your first rental? List your unit on SPEEDHOME — platform handles tenant screening, payment collection, and gives you the documentation trail you need for LHDN.
Reviewed by SPEEDHOME Operations · Last updated April 2026 · LHDN form fields and process based on the e-Filing system at mytax.hasil.gov.my; verify deadlines on the LHDN portal as forms and brackets revise annually.
