Personal reliefs (1): single, not yet married, and everyone living on commission

Hook

"I am not married, I have no children, I am not supporting my parents — what is there to claim when I file?" I hear that sentence many times a year. And the people who say it usually miss the most. Because they assume reliefs are for people with families. They are not. In your single years there is quite a lot you can claim — it is just that all of it hides in the places you spend money every day and never keep a receipt for. This episode covers two things: what a single person should be claiming, and — if you are one of the people living on commission — why your problem is not really the reliefs at all.

The things you already spend on and keep no receipt for

Start with the group that is missed most easily: the lifestyle box. What it covers is wider than most people think — books, a computer, a phone, a tablet, your monthly internet, and course fees for your own upskilling. Change your phone and you have used it. Then a separate box of its own: sport. Sports equipment, the cost of sports activities, gym membership — many people have no idea this box is there. That gym card you signed up for is not a small figure over a full year. Third, another one most people do not know about: a full medical check-up — a single person can claim it. It is tucked inside the medical box. You do not have to be ill, and you do not have to have a family. Go for a check-up once and that money is used. Fourth, and this one was only added recently: tickets to local tourist attractions, and entrance fees for cultural performances. Take a trip to Melaka, watch a show, keep the stubs.

Already being deducted, and you never noticed

There is another group you are already paying every month and have never thought of as a relief: EPF — if you are salaried it comes out automatically every month, so that box fills itself. The employee share of SOCSO and EIS — there is a box for that too. Life insurance and family takaful. The Private Retirement Scheme. What these have in common: the money went out long ago, you simply never put it into the form. Whether you fill it in or not, the tax is different.

Living on commission (the heart of this episode)

Now a particular group of people: insurance agents, property negotiators, anyone in sales living on commission. Your problem is not really the reliefs. It sits one question further back, and that classification decides something very big — whether you can deduct your expenses at all. If it is employment income, what you can use is the reliefs we just went through. Expenses are not deductible. If it is business income, that is a different set of rules: what you spent in order to earn that commission can be deducted as an expense, and only then do you arrive at your taxable income. Petrol, phone, the cost of meeting clients — the treatment is completely different. This one is not yours to decide. It turns on what your contract says and what your relationship with the company actually is. If you cannot answer it, go and ask your tax agent. Two forms you will certainly meet. First, CP58. When a company pays commission to an agent it issues this to you — and LHDN has a copy too. So "if I do not declare, nobody will know" — that era is over. Second, CP500. If you have business income, LHDN may issue this to you asking you to pay next year's tax in advance by instalments. Do not panic when it arrives, and do not ignore it either. If the estimate is far off your real position, you can apply to revise it with CP502 — but there is a deadline, and I have put the date on the episode page. ⚠️ One last line, and please hear it clearly: this section is about classification and obligation. It is not teaching you to stuff private spending into business expenses — that road always gets found out in the end.

Others you may also qualify for

What we covered above is what most of you will use. But there is another batch on the list you may happen to qualify for — a quick run through. Are you studying yourself? There is a box for course fees, and a master's or a doctorate counts too. Are you a disabled person yourself? There is a box specifically for that. Have you bought your first home? If you meet the conditions, there is a box for housing loan interest. Have you installed EV charging equipment? There is a box for that as well. Have you donated to an approved institution? That is a different kind of deduction, computed separately from reliefs. Are you saving in SSPN? Even if the child is not born yet, you can start saving now. The point of this section is not to memorise every item. It is to know that there are this many boxes, and then go and check yourself against the list.

The checklist is on the episode page

That was a dozen or more items, and there is no way you will remember them. I do not expect you to. So we have made the full checklist into a PDF and put it on the episode page. Every item has a tick box, and it sets out the cap, the conditions and the documents you need to keep. Print it, and tick your way down it once. It is built on this year's basis and it states the date it was verified — because these numbers get adjusted every year, and what you want is always that year's version.

To close

One last line for the single ones among you: want to know which boxes you actually missed last year? Grab a coffee first and talk about your tax. For the accounting, come to LTT. I am LTT, helping SME bosses get their accounts straight. Follow us, and see you next time.