Key dates for small businesses in 2024 [Malaysia]

Tax return dates in 2024

The Return Form (RF) Filing Programme dates for 2024 have not been released by the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM/LHDN) yet. Stay tuned.

Self-assessment tax return deadlines

30th April 2024: Form BE, the individual income tax return form, must be submitted to the LHDN. The e-filing deadline is estimated to be 2 weeks later, on 15th May 2024. 30th June 2024: Form B, the income tax return form for individuals with a business income, must be submitted to the LHDN. The e-filing deadline is estimated to be 2 weeks later, on 15th July 2024.

Corporate tax filing deadlines

29th February 2024: Form EA must be submitted to your employees by 28th February 2023, following the end of financial year (31st December 2022). This is their individual statement of remuneration from the financial year, and allows them to put together their individual tax returns. It does not need to be submitted to LHDN. 29th February 2024: Form PCB2 is a letter confirming that the employer has made all of the tax withholdings for a given period. This form is to be given to employees, who will submit it to LHDN. 29th February 2024: Form CP58, a commission statement, must be submitted to agents, dealers and distributors from companies. 31st March 2024: Form E must be submitted to LHDN by 31st March 2024 following the end of financial year. This is a statement of payments made to a business’ employees, plus MTD/PCB deductions from the year. The e-filing deadline for this form is usually one month later, on 30th April 2024. 30th June 2024: Form P, the income tax return form for partnerships, must be submitted to the LHDN. The e-filing deadline is estimated to be 2 weeks later, on 15th July 2024. Depending on the dates of your company’s financial year, Form C, the income tax return form for companies, and Form PT, the income tax return form for LLPs, will need to be submitted to the LHDN 7 months after the financial year end. The e-filing deadline is estimated to be one month later, 8 months after the financial year end.

Dates with increased consumer spending

January: Chinese New Year sales April to May: Ramadan/Hari Raya sales August: Hari Merdeka sales November: Singles Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday sales December: Christmas sales Double digit sale days have also been trending — for example 9.9, 10.10, 11.11, 12.12 and more.

Public holiday dates in Malaysia

For a complete list of public holidays across all states in Malaysia, refer to our handy factsheet here.

School holiday dates in Malaysia

The Malaysia Ministry of Education (KPM) recently confirmed the 2024/2025 school term dates. Malaysian states are split into two groups — group A and group B, which start the school term one day apart respectively. Group A comprises of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu while Group B comprises Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya. These are the holiday dates for each respective group.

Group A	Holiday starts	Holiday ends
Term 1 holidays	13 March 2024	21 March 2024
Mid Year holidays	22 May 2024	6 June 2024
Term 2 holidays	24 July 2024	1 Aug 2024
End of year holidays	20 Nov 2024	31 Dec 2024

Group B	Holiday starts	Holiday ends
Term 1 holidays	14 March 2024	22 March 2024
Mid Year holidays	23 May 2024	7 June 2024
Term 2 holidays	25 July 2024	2 August 2024
End of year holidays	21 November 2024	31 December 2024

Other important dates small business owners should know

These dates are notable international days, observances and events that can be relevant to your business. 14th February 2024: Valentine’s Day 8th March 2024: International Women’s Day 10th March to 9th April 2024: Ramadan 1st April 2024: April Fool’s Day 22nd April 2024: Earth Day 12th May 2024: Mother’s Day 16th June 2023: Father’s Day 27th June 2024: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Day 17th September 2024: Mid-Autumn Festival 10th October 2024: World Mental Health Day 31st October 2024: Halloween 24th December 2024: Christmas Eve 31st December 2024: New Year’s Eve

Download our small business key dates poster

Running a small business is no easy feat. There are so many important dates to remember throughout the year! When it comes to public holidays and leave management, working out accurate leave entitlements and pay rates can be challenging. That’s where Employment Hero payroll can help — our system automatically includes all Malaysian public holidays and factors that into any calculations. It’s an important way to support compliance in the long term. Understanding the critical dates on the tax calendar and having access to an automated payroll system helps make managing your small business easier. Not to mention the fact that tax reporting to LHDN is also so much easier and fuss-free with automated software — it provides compliance confidence whilst reducing the chances of human error. Looking for more helpful resources? Check out our guide to payroll in Malaysia. The smarter way to manage your payroll, people and productivity. For Malaysian small and medium businesses on the up.