Malaysia

Registering Property in

Malaysia

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: MYR 1,326,754.08
  • City: Kuala Lumpur

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Lawyer conducts necessary searches

The sale-purchase agreement is sent to the Stamp Office for stamping. The parties will mutually agree on whose solicitors will prepare the sale-purchase agreement. The lawyer will usually conduct:
- Land search
- Bankruptcy Search
- Winding-up Search


Agency: Stamp Office 		1 day RM 54 (stamping fee)
2 Buyer and seller sign sales-purchase agreement in presence of lawyer and lawyer fills out Form 14A Memorandum of Transfer

The Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A) has to be attested by a licensed professional - can be a lawyer or an official from the land office. This is stated in the Land Code.

Documentation shall include:
- Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A)
- Copy of the sale-purchase agreement
- Copy of title deed
- Form PDS15 (Stamping Proforma)



Agency: Lawyer's office 		1 day Lawyers' professional fee (not including service tax and disbursements) for preparing sale and purchase agreement and completing the transfer of property is as follows:- For the first RM150,000 of the purchase price - 1% (subject to a minimum fee of RM3
3 Memorandum of Transfer (14A) sent to Stamp Office for adjudication of Stamp Duty and valuation by JPPH

The valuation department will conduct an inspection to value the property, if required. The inspection is not mandatory to conclude the valuation and it is at the discretion of the valuation department, but in practice, it takes place in the majority of the cases. The Stamp Office will issue a notice of assessment based on the valuation department’s report.
Submission can be made either manually or online through the website http://pinharta.hasil.gov.my. E-stamping (online) is now available only to legal firms, banks, company secretaries, accounting firms and companies.

If completed online the submission must include:
1. The sale-purchase agreement
2. Copy of the Issue Document of Title (IDT)
3. Form 14A
4. Form PDS 15
5. Other supporting documents

Once accepted, an adjudication number will be assigned by the system. When the Stamp Office receives the submission, the documents are transferred to JPPH for valuation. When required, a valuation inspection will be made on the property by JPPH. In most of the cases, commercial properties will be assessed. The JPPH will prepare a valuation report which is sent to the Stamp Office. The applicant will be able to follow the status of the adjudication online.


Agency: Stamp assessment and payment system (http://pinharta.hasil.gov.my) 		1 - 8 days (online) or up to 20 days manually no additional cost
4 Payment of stamp duty and stamping of Form 14A

Stamp duty must then be paid to the Stamp Office, based on the Notice of Assessment, within fourteen (14) days from the date of such notice or the period indicated by the Collector of Stamp Duty. Usually the Collector will give thirty (30) days from the date of such notice to pay the stamp duty. This procedure may take one day if the purchaser or purchaser’s lawyer goes personally. Otherwise it can take up to 5-7 days for the Memorandum of Transfer to be endorsed and be ready for collection.

Payment may also be made electronically via Financial Processing Exchange (FPX), or at the Stamp Office.

The documentation shall include:
Form 14A (Memorandum of Transfer)
Notice of Assessment (obtained in Procedure 3)
Form PDS 3


The documentation shall include:
Form 14A (Memorandum of Transfer)
Notice of Assessment (obtained in Procedure 3)


Agency: electronically via Financial Processing Exchange (FPX) 		1 day 1% on first RM 100,000, 2% on excess of RM 100,000 up to RM 500,000 and 3% on excess over RM 500,000 (Stamp duty)
5 The transfer is registered at the Land Office/Registry

The purchaser’s lawyer presents the duly stamped Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A) for registration at the Land Office/Registry. This must be done within three months from the date of the Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A) which is usually dated when it is submitted for adjudication. A title search is conducted just prior to presentation to ensure that there are no encumbrances or restraint against dealings which may hinder the registration of the Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A).

The documentation shall include:
• Copies of Quit rent and Assessment receipts
• Certified true copies of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, Form 24 (Return on Allotment of Shares), Form 49 (Return Giving Particulars in Register of Directors, Managers and Secretaries and Changes of Particulars) of the Purchaser and Vendor
• Certified true copies of the Vendor’s and Purchaser’s board resolutions giving authority to sell and purchase the property respectively
• Search report on the Purchaser as extracted from the Companies Commission of Malaysia
• Duly stamped Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A)
• Copy of Notice of Assessment bearing Stamp Office’s endorsement that ad valorem stamp duty has been paid (obtained in Procedure 3)
• Original of the title document

After submission, the applicants get the “presentation receipt” the same day. It gives the time of submission and that is the time of legal “registration”. The computerized system at the Land Registry also immediately tags the land as ‘pending transfer’ and hence anyone searching the property can be informed.
However, the “presentation receipt” is not enough for Banks which will generally request the original title to grant loans.


Agency: Land Office/Registry 		21 - 60 days RM 100 (registration fee) + RM 60 (search fee)
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