RMCD (Jabatan Kastam Diraja Malaysia) is a federal department under the Ministry of Finance that administers Malaysia's indirect taxes and the border. It collects import and export duty, excise duty, sales tax, service tax, tourism tax and the departure levy, and it enforces the Customs Act 1967 at ports, airports and land crossings. Income tax, stamp duty and real property gains tax are not its business — those belong to LHDN, a separate statutory body under the same ministry.
- A federal department, not a statutory body — the Ministry of Finance lists Kastam under its departments and LHDN under its agencies
- Indirect tax and the border: customs duty, excise, sales tax, service tax, tourism tax, departure levy, windfall profit levy
- Anything measured on income, gains or instruments (income tax, RPGT, stamp duty) belongs to LHDN instead
- Runs MySST, MyTTx, MyDLV, the tax stamp system and the ezHS tariff explorer
- Duty rates live in gazetted Orders, not on a web page — the Customs Duties Order plus the preferential schedules under Malaysia's free trade agreements
Who this applies to: Anyone working out whether a Malaysian tax obligation is a Kastam matter or an LHDN matter, and which portal or statute answers it.
On this page
Two agencies, one ministry, and a line that almost nobody draws correctly on the first try. If the tax attaches to a thing crossing a border, a good leaving a factory, or a service being supplied, it is Kastam. If it attaches to income, a gain, or a document, it is LHDN.
At a glance
| Full name | Jabatan Kastam Diraja Malaysia / Royal Malaysian Customs Department |
| Type | Federal government department |
| Reports to | Ministry of Finance — listed under the ministry’s departments, not its agencies |
| Headed by | Director General of Customs |
| Headquarters | No. 3, Persiaran Perdana, Presint 2, 62596 Putrajaya |
| Divisions | Customs, Internal Tax, Enforcement, Compliance Management, Technical Services and Legal, among others |
| Training arm | Akademi Kastam Diraja Malaysia (AKMAL) |
| Website | customs.gov.my |
What it administers
| Statute | Subject |
|---|---|
| Customs Act 1967 (Act 235) | Import and export duty, declarations, valuation, seizure and prosecution at the border |
| Excise Act 1976 (Act 176) | Excise duty and licensing — motor vehicles, liquor, tobacco and other excisable goods |
| Sales Tax Act 2018 (Act 806) | Single-stage sales tax on taxable goods manufactured in Malaysia, and on imports |
| Service Tax Act 2018 (Act 807) | Single-stage service tax on prescribed taxable services |
| Free Zones Act 1990 (Act 438) | Free commercial and free industrial zones |
| Tourism Tax Act 2017 (Act 791) | Tourism tax on accommodation |
| Departure Levy Act 2019 (Act 813) | Levy on departure from Malaysia by air |
| Windfall Profit Levy Act 1998 (Act 592) | Levy on windfall profits from prescribed commodities |
Sales tax and service tax both commenced on 1 September 2018, replacing GST. They are two separate Acts with separate registration tests — see SST explained.
The split with LHDN, in one table
Both sit under the Ministry of Finance. That is where the similarity stops.
| Your question | Who answers it |
|---|---|
| Tax on my company’s profit | LHDN |
| Service tax on the invoice I issue | RMCD |
| Import duty on a shipment | RMCD |
| Withholding tax on a foreign vendor | LHDN |
| Stamp duty on a tenancy agreement | LHDN |
| Excise duty on a car | RMCD |
| Real property gains tax on a shophouse sale | LHDN |
| Tourism tax charged by a hotel | RMCD |
| Departure levy on an air ticket | RMCD |
| e-Invoice submission | LHDN |
There is a structural difference underneath the functional one. RMCD is a department — part of the federal public service, headed by a Director General. LHDN is a statutory body created by its own Act. The Ministry of Finance lists Kastam under departments and LHDN under agencies, and that classification is the cleanest way to keep them apart.
Portals it runs
- MySST — registration, returns and payment for sales tax and service tax, plus the gazetted Orders, regulations and policy statements.
- ezHS (JKDM HS Explorer) — tariff lookup by HS code or description, covering the current Customs Duties Order and the preferential schedules of Malaysia’s free trade agreements (ATIGA, ACFTA, AANZFTA, RCEP and others).
- MyTTx — the Malaysian Tourism Tax System.
- MyDLV — departure levy declarations.
- Tax stamp system (TMS) — tax stamps on excisable goods.
- MNTR — the Malaysia National Trade Repository, for trade measures and procedures.
Two things that catch people out
Rates are gazetted, not published. A duty rate is set by a Customs Duties Order and a service tax rate by a Rate of Tax Order. Guidance notes and FAQ pages on the portals are commentary; the P.U.(A) instrument is the law. When they disagree, the gazette wins.
Enforcement and assessment are the same agency. The officer clearing your consignment and the officer auditing your SST-02 return work for one department, under statutes that carry seizure and prosecution powers. That is unlike the direct-tax side, where assessment and enforcement follow a civil-recovery model.
Where the practical rules live
| Topic | Article |
|---|---|
| Which SST applies to you | SST explained |
| Sales tax mechanics | Sales tax explained |
| Registering | SST registration |
| Filing the return | SST-02 filing |
| Rates and thresholds by group | SST rate table |
| The 2025 widening | SST expansion 2025 |
| Services bought from abroad | Imported taxable services |
| Trade remedy duties | Anti-dumping and countervailing duties |
| The direct-tax counterpart | LHDN |
What’s next
Work out which side of the line your obligation falls on before you go looking for a form. If it is a Kastam matter, start at SST explained for services and goods you supply, or at ezHS for anything you import. If it is an income, gains or instrument question, go to LHDN instead.
Does Kastam collect income tax?
No. RMCD administers indirect taxes — taxes on goods, services and movement across the border. Income tax, petroleum income tax, real property gains tax and stamp duty are administered by LHDN under separate Acts. The two sit under the same ministry, which is why they are so often confused, but they are different organisations with different statutes, different registration numbers and different filing systems.
Is RMCD part of LHDN?
No, and the difference is structural. RMCD is a federal government department staffed under the public service and headed by a Director General. LHDN is a statutory body created by its own Act of Parliament. The Ministry of Finance lists them in different categories — Kastam under departments, LHDN under agencies.
Where do I find the duty rate for a product?
In the gazetted Customs Duties Order, not in a guidance note. RMCD publishes the ezHS tariff explorer, which lets you search by HS code or description against the current Customs Duties Order and the preferential schedules for each of Malaysia's free trade agreements. The rate depends on the tariff code and, for preferential rates, on proof of origin.
The following are deliberately unstated or described only qualitatively until confirmed by a subject-matter expert:
- The list of statutes administered by RMCD was assembled from the Acts themselves on the AGC legislation portal and from RMCD's own procedure and legislation sections; it is not a single official consolidated list and may not be exhaustive
- Division names and headquarters address were read from RMCD's organisation-structure page; the underlying organisation chart PDF was not retrieved, so the number of divisions is deliberately not stated
- The portal inventory beyond MySST and ezHS (MyTTx, MyDLV, the tax stamp system, MNTR) was not confirmed against a cited RMCD page; the current edition of the Customs Duties Order and the number of preferential FTA schedules in ezHS are likewise unconfirmed and are described qualitatively
Sources
- Jabatan & Agensi — Kementerian Kewangan Malaysia — Ministry of Finance Malaysia
- Organization Structure — Royal Malaysian Customs Department — Royal Malaysian Customs Department
- MySST Portal — Royal Malaysian Customs Department
- JKDM HS Explorer (ezHS) — Royal Malaysian Customs Department
- Act 235 — Customs Act 1967 — Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia
- Act 176 — Excise Act 1976 — Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia
- Act 806 — Sales Tax Act 2018 — Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia
- Act 807 — Service Tax Act 2018 — Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia
- Act 438 — Free Zones Act 1990 — Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia
- Act 791 — Tourism Tax Act 2017 — Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia
- Act 813 — Departure Levy Act 2019 — Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia
- Act 592 — Windfall Profit Levy Act 1998 — Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia
Change history
| Version | Date | Change | By |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01.00 | 24 Jul 2026 | Approved and published. | — |