A "love and affection" transfer is the everyday name for giving land or a house to someone for no payment. Malaysians use it to move a home into a child's name, to add or remove a spouse from a title, or to pass a property down while the owner is still alive. The cost depends almost entirely on who the two people are, and the savings are large: on a RM500,000 house, the stamp duty bill can be RM9,000 or zero.
This guide covers transfers of land and landed or strata property in Peninsular Malaysia under the National Land Code. Sabah and Sarawak run their own land laws, so check the state land office there before you start.
Stamp duty: who pays what
Stamp duty on a gift is charged on the property's market value, using the same scale as a sale: 1% on the first RM100,000, 2% from RM100,001 to RM500,000, 3% from RM500,001 to RM1 million and 4% above that. What changes is the relief.
Parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren. The Stamp Duty (Exemption) (No. 3) Order 2023, P.U.(A) 178/2023, fully exempts the first RM1 million of market value. The Finance Ministry's statement on the order says the value above RM1 million pays the normal rate with a 50% remission. It works in both directions, so a child can also give a property to a parent. The person receiving the property must be a Malaysian citizen, and the transfer must be signed on or after 1 April 2023. The order has no expiry date, and Budget 2027's tax measures do not change it. It replaced an older 50% remission for parents and children.
Husband and wife. The Stamp Duty (Exemption) (No. 10) Order 2007, P.U.(A) 420/2007, exempts every gift of property between living spouses in full, in either direction, with no cap on value.
Everyone else. There is no relief for siblings, in-laws, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews or friends. A gift to your brother pays exactly what a sale at market value would.
A foreign recipient. From 1 January 2026, the Finance Act 2025 added an 8% rate for residential property going to someone who is neither a citizen nor a permanent resident. If the spouse or child receiving the home is not Malaysian, ask LHDN how this applies to a gift before you sign, and expect the state's consent to be needed too.
Worked examples
- A RM500,000 terrace house from mother to son. Normal duty would be RM9,000 (RM1,000 on the first RM100,000 plus RM8,000 on the next RM400,000). Under the 2023 order it is RM0.
- The same house from a woman to her sister. RM9,000, with no relief.
- A RM1.2 million house from father to daughter. The first RM1 million is exempt. The remaining RM200,000 falls in the 4% band, so RM8,000 of duty, halved by the remission to about RM4,000. LHDN fixes the exact figure when it assesses the transfer.
RPGT: the gift is free, the forms are not
Under the Real Property Gains Tax Act, a gift between spouses, between parents and children, or between grandparents and grandchildren is treated as no gain, no loss, but only if the giver is a Malaysian citizen. Any other gift counts as a disposal at market value.
The relief matters again when the recipient sells. LHDN's RPGT guideline says that if the gift is made within five years of the giver buying the property, the recipient takes over the giver's original price and costs. If it is made after five years, the recipient's cost is the market value on the day of the gift.
Both people still have to file. LHDN's March 2026 operational guideline says the giver files CKHT 1A with CKHT 3 and the recipient files CKHT 2A, each within 60 days, through e-CKHT on MyTax. Paper forms have not been accepted since 1 January 2025. Late or missing returns can bring a penalty of up to three times the tax, even when the tax is zero.
The steps, in order
- Check the title. Look for a restriction in interest (common on leasehold and some state land), which needs the State Authority's consent, and for a bank charge. If the property is still under a loan, the bank must consent, and many banks will ask for the loan to be settled or refinanced in the recipient's name first.
- Prepare Form 14A, the memorandum of transfer. It must be witnessed by a lawyer or the Land Administrator.
- Submit for stamping within 30 days. Love and affection transfers go to LHDN for adjudication on e-Duti Setem (stamps.hasil.gov.my), where LHDN sets the market value and issues a notice of assessment. Pay within 30 days of signing. LHDN's late penalty is the higher of RM50 or 10% of the duty if you are up to three months late, and RM100 or 20% after that.
- File the RPGT forms on e-CKHT within 60 days.
- Register at the land office within 3 months of the form being witnessed. Selangor's checklist asks for the original title, certified copies of both ICs, current quit rent and assessment receipts, and LHDN's original notice of assessment and stamp certificate. Johor also asks for birth certificates for family transfers and a marriage certificate for spouses. Registration fees are set state by state.
Legal fees are not fixed for gifts. The Solicitors' Remuneration Order 2023 leaves love and affection transfers to a "fair and reasonable" fee, so ask for a written quote. For comparison, the scale for a sale is 1.25% on the first RM500,000.
Common mistakes
- Selling for RM1. A token price does not make a transfer cheaper. Duty is charged on market value whenever that is higher, and the family exemptions are written for gifts with no payment.
- Assuming siblings are covered. They are not.
- Missing the RPGT filing because no tax is due.
- Gifting a property that still has a loan without speaking to the bank first.
A transfer while you are alive is different from passing property through a will or the estate process. If that is your real aim, read our guides to writing a will in Malaysia and what happens when someone dies without one.
