I want to buy a new laptop to reduce my income tax bill. The allowance is RM3k for computers so I want to spend as close to RM3K as I can. I guess my priorities are the weight, battery life and speed of the laptop.

Any recommendations appreciated.

It should be RM3K. As far as I'm aware, the allowance is RM3000 every 3 years. There is also RM300 for sports equipment per year and RM1k for books per year. Oh, and RM500 per year for a medical check up.

It's best to talk to an accountant or someone from your HR department as I'm not an expert but that's my understanding of the system.

In the end I went for the Acer S 13 with the i7 and touch screen. It worked out to be RM3,488 on Gemfive with the discount voucher.

RM34k is the income tax threshold. If you earn less than that in one year, you don't pay any tax. If you earn more than that you have to pay according to the scale. At the lower end of the scale the tax is quite reasonable but it gets higher the more you earn.

If you are only paying RM500 in income tax then that's the most you can claim back. If that's the case, you may as well spend RM500 on a medical check up or books.

It's either that or give it to Najib.