Can I get commission even if the TA is not stamped?
Yes. Agent commission is earned under the separate agency or service agreement you signed with the agent, not under the tenancy agreement itself. Whether the TA is stamped does not change whether that commission was earned — but an unstamped TA must still be stamped, and it cannot be used as evidence in court until the duty and penalty are paid.
The two obligations sit on two different documents. The commission question turns on the agency agreement: did the agent do the work the agreement pays for (introduce a tenant, close the deal, reach signing)? If yes, the fee is generally owed under that contract. The stamping question turns on the tenancy agreement: under the Finance Act 2024 it must still be stamped, and under stamp-duty law an unstamped instrument is inadmissible as evidence until the duty plus any penalty is paid. Failing to stamp the TA does not erase the commission debt, and paying the commission does not legalise an unstamped TA.
SPEEDHOME's internal landlord data (Q1 2026) shows that a clear majority of post-signing commission disputes on managed tenancies trace back to agency scope that was never written down — that is why stamping the TA on time and documenting the agency scope in writing is the cleaner path.
Does stamping the TA affect the commission?
No. Stamping the TA is a duty on the tenancy instrument; commission is a fee owed under a separate agency or service agreement. The two are independent, so an unstamped TA is not a lawful reason to refuse commission that was already earned under the agency contract.
Many landlords confuse the two because both costs land at the same moment — when the tenancy is signed. But they answer different questions:
| Question it answers | Which document | Who is owed | Triggered by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is the commission owed? | The agency or service agreement | The agent or platform | The agent completing the agreed scope (e.g. tenant placement) |
| Is the TA validly stamped? | The tenancy agreement | The government (LHDN) | Signing the tenancy instrument |
| Is the TA usable as evidence? | The tenancy agreement | The party relying on it in court | The TA being stamped, with any penalty paid |
If you try to withhold commission because the TA was not stamped, you are mixing the documents. The remedy for an unstamped TA is to stamp it and pay any late penalty — not to walk away from a separate fee you already agreed to pay for a service that was performed. If you genuinely believe the agent did not do the agreed work, that is a dispute about the agency agreement, and it is unrelated to whether the TA carries a stamp.
For the stamping side, the current route is e-Duti Setem on MyTax (mytax.hasil.gov.my), which replaced the STAMPS portal from January 2026.
Commission vs stamp duty: what each side actually pays
Commission is a private agency fee set by your agreement; stamp duty is a government tax set by the Finance Act 2024 bands. Comparing the two against the same annual rent is the quickest way to see that one is a service price and the other is a tax liability you cannot contract out of.
The typical residential commission benchmarks you will see in the market — placement-only agents commonly charge around 1 to 1.25 months of yearly rent, and managed-platform renewal fees in the SPEEDHOME range sit at RM750 plus 8% SST — are reference points only, not statutory rates. Stamp duty is different: it is calculated on the same annual rent, but lands as a tax.
| Item | Who sets it | Typical reference figure | Legal anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Placement-only agent commission | Negotiated in the agency agreement | ~1 to 1.25 months of yearly rent | Private contract (not statute) |
| Managed platform renewal fee | Set by the platform (e.g. SPEEDHOME) | RM750 + 8% SST per renewal | Private contract (not statute) |
| Stamp duty on the TA | LHDN under the Finance Act 2024 | RM1 / RM3 / RM5 / RM7 per RM250 of annual rent by lease duration | Statute |
| Late stamping penalty | LHDN | RM50 or 10% within 3 months; RM100 or 20% after | Statute |
The point of putting them next to each other is simple: the commission number is something you negotiate and write down, the stamp duty number is something the law calculates for you. Confusing the two is how landlords end up withholding the wrong one.
The calculator
Stamping an unstamped TA under the Finance Act 2024 costs RM1, RM3, RM5 or RM7 per RM250 of annual rent by lease duration, plus a late penalty of RM50 or 10% within three months (RM100 or 20% after). The commission number is separate and lives in your agency agreement, so check that document for the fee.
The stamp duty tenancy agreement calculator works out the duty on the TA itself. Enter the monthly rent and lease duration to get the duty under the current four-band scale, plus RM10 for each additional copy. It does not compute commission, because commission is a term of your separate service or agency agreement — confirm that figure against the document you signed, not against a generic online rate.
What does it cost to stamp an unstamped TA?
Under the Finance Act 2024 scale, duty runs at RM1, RM3, RM5, or RM7 per RM250 of annual rent by lease duration, and the RM2,400 annual-rent exemption was removed in January 2025. If you stamp late, add the penalty: RM50 or 10% within three months, RM100 or 20% after three months, whichever is higher.
The full annual rent is dutiable from the first ringgit. This table shows how the duty lands at common rents and lease lengths, ignoring any penalty — add the penalty if stamping is overdue.
| Monthly rent | Annual rent | 1 yr or less (RM1/RM250) | Over 1–3 yr (RM3/RM250) | Over 3–5 yr (RM5/RM250) | Over 5 yr (RM7/RM250) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RM1,500 | RM18,000 | RM72 | RM216 | RM360 | RM504 |
| RM2,000 | RM24,000 | RM96 | RM288 | RM480 | RM672 |
| RM2,500 | RM30,000 | RM120 | RM360 | RM600 | RM840 |
| RM3,500 | RM42,000 | RM168 | RM504 | RM840 | RM1,176 |
Each figure is the annual rent divided by RM250, rounded up, multiplied by the per-band rate. RM10 applies to each additional copy that needs stamping. If you want the exact figure for your rent and duration, run it through the self-assessment stamp duty tool.
Why an unstamped TA is still a problem
Even though the commission stays owed, an unstamped TA cannot be put before a court as evidence until the duty and penalty are paid. So if a dispute later turns on the terms of the tenancy — rent, deposit, default — the lack of a stamp can undercut your own case.
The practical risks of leaving the TA unstamped are separate from the commission question:
| Risk of an unstamped TA | What it means | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Inadmissible as evidence | You cannot rely on the TA in court until it is stamped with any penalty paid | Stamp it now via e-Duti Setem |
| Late penalty accrues | RM50 or 10% within three months; RM100 or 20% after three months, whichever is higher | The sooner you stamp, the lower the penalty |
| Weakens your own enforcement | If you ever need to recover arrears or rely on a default clause, the TA's terms may not be usable | A stamped TA with a clear consent/default clause protects you |
| Misplaced leverage against the agent | Withholding commission does not un-stamp the TA; you owe both the fee and the duty | Treat the two as independent obligations |
The honest summary: stamping the TA does not earn or erase commission, and refusing to pay commission does not fix an unstamped TA. Resolve each on its own document.
What to do in the next 30 minutes
- Stamp the TA now. Open e-Duti Setem on MyTax (mytax.hasil.gov.my), pay the duty under the Finance Act 2024 bands, plus the penalty if you are past 30 days from signing — RM50 or 10% within three months, RM100 or 20% after.
- Pay any commission that was earned. If the agent did the scope in your agency or service agreement (placement, screening, deal close), the fee is owed on that document. Withholding it does not fix the stamping problem.
- Put the agency scope in writing. Confirm the fee, scope, timing and renewal terms in a one-page addendum signed by both sides, so the next tenancy does not start with the same ambiguity.
The SPEEDHOME-only angle: own the evidence, not just the fee
The agents most landlords argue with are placement-only; once the TA is signed, the work after signing — rent records, repair proof, move-out evidence, default handling — falls back on the landlord. That is the gap that matters more than the commission dispute, and it is where an unstamped, weakly drafted TA hurts most.
The commission-versus-stamp argument is usually a symptom of a deeper problem: nobody documented the after-signing scope, and now each side is grabbing the one number it can see. The cleaner position is to confirm the fee and scope in writing before signing, stamp the TA on time so it stays usable as evidence, and make sure the agreement carries the clauses that protect you later — including a clear consent and default clause if you ever need to pursue arrears lawfully.
On SPEEDHOME's managed platform, the rental workflow — listing support, applicant screening, rent records and structured follow-up — sits inside one process, which is why disputes about who owes what for placement are less likely to arise. If your real worry is not the commission but the after-signing workload, compare SPEEDHOME landlord services against a placement-only agent and decide which scope you are actually buying.
FAQ
Can I refuse to pay the agent if the tenancy agreement was never stamped?
Not lawfully, if the agent did the work the agency agreement pays for. Commission is owed under that separate agreement, not under the tenancy. The remedy for an unstamped TA is to stamp it and pay any penalty — not to withhold a fee you already agreed to for a service that was performed.
Is commission a legal fee or stamp duty?
No. Commission is a service or agency fee for the agent's work, usually placement. It is distinct from stamp duty, which is a government duty on the tenancy instrument itself. For the broader decision on how to judge an agent fee against the scope you actually get, see the property agent commission guide.
Does stamping the TA make the commission compulsory?
No. Stamping affects the tenancy instrument, not the agency agreement. Whether the commission is owed depends on the scope the agent was engaged to do and whether that scope was completed. Confirm the fee, scope and timing in writing before signing.
What happens if I need the TA in court but it is unstamped?
An unstamped tenancy agreement is inadmissible as evidence until the duty and any penalty are paid. If a dispute turns on the tenancy terms, the lack of a stamp can undercut your own case. Stamp it via e-Duti Setem on MyTax, pay any late penalty, then the TA becomes usable.
Who decides how much the commission is?
The agency or service agreement between you and the agent sets the fee, scope, timing and who pays. In Malaysia there is no statute that fixes a residential rental commission rate, so typical reference figures (~1 to 1.25 months of yearly rent for placement-only agents, or RM750 plus 8% SST on managed-platform renewals) are benchmarks to confirm in writing, not automatic numbers.
Does SPEEDHOME charge commission the same way an agent does?
SPEEDHOME is a managed platform with a published renewal fee in the RM750 plus 8% SST band, bundled with listing support, screening, rent records and structured follow-up — not a placement-only agency. Treat the fee as a scope-plus-price comparison, and check current terms on the SPEEDHOME landlord page before signing.