If you’ve been stamping every single employment letter — every contract, every salary-revision note, every promotion letter — there’s good news. On 7 August 2026, HASiL (the Inland Revenue Board) issued a clarification that removes a lot of the confusion around employment contract stamp duty. In short: not every document needs stamping, and lower-paid contracts are exempt entirely.
Here’s exactly what HASiL clarified, and what it means for your HR paperwork.
What Did HASiL Clarify?
The clarification covers three practical points employers were unsure about:
| Situation | Stamp duty requirement |
|---|---|
| Monthly salary RM3,000 or below | ✅ No stamping or endorsement required (exempt) |
| Monthly salary above RM3,000 | Stamp & endorse the main / master employment contract |
| Subsidiary documents under the same employment (salary revision, promotion, allowance, amendment letters) | Generally no separate stamping needed |
The RM3,000 Exemption Threshold
The headline change is the RM3,000 salary threshold. Employment contracts for employees earning a monthly wage of RM3,000 or below are exempt from stamp duty and endorsement. This is a major jump from the old, outdated threshold of just RM300 — meaning a large share of employment contracts now fall outside the stamping requirement entirely.
For contracts where the monthly remuneration exceeds RM3,000, the main employment contract should still be submitted for stamping and endorsement under the Stamp Act 1949.
You Don’t Need to Re-Stamp Every Letter
This is the part that saves HR the most time. Supplementary (subsidiary) documents relating to the same employment relationship generally do not need to be stamped or endorsed separately. That includes things like:
- Salary revision / increment letters
- Promotion letters
- Allowance or benefit adjustment letters
- Minor amendments to the existing contract
Important caveat: This applies to documents that are genuinely supplementary to the same employment. If a document actually creates a new or separate contractual arrangement (rather than adjusting the existing one), it may need to be assessed on its own — so consider the substance of each document, not just its label.
What This Means for Employers
- Stop over-stamping. You don’t need to stamp every promotion or salary-increase letter for existing staff.
- Focus on the main contract for employees earning above RM3,000 — that’s the document that matters.
- Lower-paid contracts (≤ RM3,000) are exempt — no stamping, no endorsement.
- Still keep good records. Exemption from stamping doesn’t remove the need to keep proper, organised employment documentation.
- Check the substance of any document that looks like it creates a fresh arrangement rather than amending an existing one.
For the full picture on stamping HR documents, see our Stamp Duty Guide for HR Documents in Malaysia, and for detailed questions, our 23 Key Stamp Duty FAQs for employers.
Where Pandahrms Helps
Stamp-duty confusion usually comes from messy documentation — not knowing which contract is the “main” one, or which letters are supplementary. With Pandahrms, every employee’s contract, salary revision, and letter is stored and organised in one place with clear dates and history, so you can instantly see the master contract and its supplementary documents. That makes it simple to stamp what actually needs stamping — and skip what doesn’t — while keeping a clean, audit-ready record.
Keep your employment documents organised, and compliance becomes straightforward.
Final Thoughts
HASiL’s clarification is a welcome relief for Malaysian employers. The rules are now much clearer: contracts at RM3,000 or below are exempt, only the main contract needs stamping above that threshold, and routine supplementary letters don’t need to be re-stamped. Apply the RM3,000 rule, focus on your master contracts, keep clean records — and you stay compliant without drowning in stamp duty paperwork.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Do employment contracts below RM3,000 need stamp duty in Malaysia?
No. Following HASiL’s clarification, employment contracts for employees earning a monthly salary of RM3,000 or below are exempt from stamping and endorsement. - Which employment contracts still need to be stamped?
Where the monthly remuneration exceeds RM3,000, the main (master) employment contract should be submitted for stamping and endorsement under the Stamp Act 1949. - Do I need to stamp salary revision or promotion letters?
Generally no. Supplementary documents relating to the same employment relationship — such as salary revision, promotion, or allowance letters — do not need to be stamped separately, as long as they are genuinely supplementary and not a new contractual arrangement. - When did this clarification take effect?
HASiL issued the clarification on 7 August 2026, and the RM3,000 exemption threshold for employment contracts applies from 2026 (raised from the previous RM300 threshold). - Does an exemption from stamping mean I don’t need to keep the contract?
No. Even where stamping isn’t required, you should still keep proper, organised employment documentation for each employee as good HR and compliance practice.
