Hi,
I would like to ask something about affiliate marketing in Malaysia.

1. Do an affiliate marketer need to pay taxes in Malaysia? If so, which taxes must be paid? And roughly how much?

2. Any professional or someone who has experience in affiliate marketing can tell me about what is the preparation for newbie (legal information, disclaimer etc.) and anything that I should be cautious of.


Note: I planned to start affiliate marketing this year-end, and I am going to join the Amazon Association Program. Since the law of Malaysia is not the same as the US, so that I need to acknowledge every legal information in Malaysia before I start. Replies are appreciated.

while waiting for responses, I googled and found this...
Taxable online business income and tax issues on payment of online advertisement expenses
https://www.kccci.org.my/attachments/articl...0Lih%20Jiun.pdf
hope it can provide you with some info while you wait for responses....

I'm interested to know this as well!

Thanks for your reply
I have noticed that if the income is not derived from Malaysia, then it is not subject to Malaysian income tax.
Is that mean that I don't have to pay the taxes anywhere?

try this....

GUIDELINES ON TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
http://lampiran2.hasil.gov.my/pdf/pdfam/GU...IC_COMMERCE.pdf

4.2 Income of a person accruing in or derived from Malaysia is subject to tax in Malaysia.

4.3 For business income, where the business operations are carried on in Malaysia, the income of the person attributable to those business operations is deemed to be derived from Malaysia.
The determination of whether or not an income is derived from Malaysia is a question of fact and degree.
The wider the scope and extent of the business operations in Malaysia, the greater the likelihood that the income of that operations is subject to tax in Malaysia.

4.5 In the context of e-commerce, some business activities that may be considered in determination of business operations include sourcing of content, procurement of goods, promotions, advertisement, selling, updating and maintaining the website, uploading and downloading of contents, etc

This post has been edited by MUM: Oct 20 2019, 10:38 PM

Wow Thank you so much
This is the document I'm finding about.

Therefore, as long as the content is created in Malaysia, regardless of where is the server/website located, I still need to pay the income tax, right?

not a legally qualified answer, but I think that is what it meant in that guidelines...
best is contact LHDN for qualified and up to date info.

Ok Thanks

So I presume affiliate marketing falls under this clause which is not taxable. So which is the country to pay the income tax then??
For Amazon need to pay to U.S.? Too hassle need to setup U.S. company to pay tax there since we are in msia..please advise.
6.5 A resident person having business operations outside Malaysia sets up a website outside Malaysia.

Ive done affiliate marketing fulltime for a few years, back in the day but not for amazon. US companies would require you to submit W-8BEN form. As far as I remember they've never charged me anything.

I would suggest you worry about all this only when you start making money.

Treat it as a biz, and declare based on your income & refer to sole proprietorship's tax brackets. If you're not making anything... dont sweat it and focus on making your first sale.

He is preparing for future.. So meaning to say affiliate marketing pays income tax to U.S?

Malaysia if you're operating in Malaysia.

After I did some research on the W-8BEN form, I found out that it is not required to pay 30% tax to the US, the form is just a proof to IRS that you hold a "non-American status".
What is a Form W-8BEN.

Therefore, I believe that we just have to pay income tax to Malaysia gov since that's our income source.

i am interested in amazon affiliate too. any sifu can share tips? i use https://kit.co/JOYMusic8/joy-music-youtube to promote. tq

hi, so at the end, did you pay any tax?