# Donations, Gifts and Section 44(6) Approved Institutions

> How the 10% aggregate income cap on approved-institution donations works, and how to check an institution is still approved before you give.

- Category: taxation
- Language: en
- Status: published
- Updated: 2026-07-20
- Canonical: https://negaraku.md/en/taxation/donations-and-tax-deductions

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The receipt says *tax exempt under subsection 44(6)*. That sentence is printed by
the charity, not by LHDN, and it is only true while the approval is live.
Approvals lapse. LHDN's own checker carries a status value for it —
**TAMAT TEMPOH KELULUSAN**, approval expired — alongside
**KELULUSAN DITARIK BALIK**, approval withdrawn. Donate in the gap and the
deduction is gone, however genuine the gift.

## What s.44(6) actually allows

Under s.44(6) of the Income Tax Act 1967 there is deducted from aggregate income
a gift of money made to:

- the Federal Government, a State Government or a local authority — **no limit**; or
- an **institution, organisation or fund approved by the Director General** on the application of that body — **limited to 10% of aggregate income**.

The deduction is from **aggregate income**, after any s.44(1) adjustment. It
cannot create a loss and it cannot be carried forward. Give more than you can
absorb and the excess is simply lost.

Note what does not qualify. Section 44(6) covers a **gift of money** only.
Goods, services, volunteer time and sponsorship-in-kind are outside it, and the
in-kind routes that do exist are narrow — artefacts, manuscripts and paintings to
government under s.44(6A), facilities for disabled persons under s.44(9), medical
equipment to an approved healthcare facility under s.44(10), and paintings to the
National or a state art gallery under s.44(11).

## The 10% is one pot, not four

This is where competent preparers still get it wrong. The provisos to
subsections 44(11B), (11C) and (11D) each cap the deduction at *the difference
between 10% of aggregate income and the total already deducted under the other
three*. Read together with s.44(6), the effect is a single shared ceiling.

| Provision | Gift | Shares the 10% ceiling |
| --- | --- | --- |
| s.44(6) | Money to an approved institution, organisation or fund | Yes |
| s.44(11B) | Money for a sports activity approved by the Minister | Yes |
| s.44(11C) | Money or contribution in kind for a project of national interest approved by the Minister | Yes |
| s.44(11D) | Wakaf to an approved religious authority or body, or endowment to a public university | Yes |
| s.44(6) | Money to Government, State Government or local authority | No — uncapped |
| s.44(8) | Money for public library facilities | No — separate RM20,000 cap |
| s.44(11A) | Zakat perniagaan | No — separate one-fortieth cap |

## How to verify approval before you donate

This is the step nobody publishes, and it takes two minutes.

1. Open LHDN's **Semakan Kelulusan Derma** checker under the
   Institusi/Organisasi/Tabung Bukan Berasaskan Keuntungan section of
   hasil.gov.my.
2. Search by **Nama Institusi** or, better, by the **No. Rujukan Kelulusan**
   printed on the receipt. Searching by reference number defeats near-identical
   charity names.
3. Set **Subseksyen** to *SUBSEKSYEN 44(6) AKTA CUKAI PENDAPATAN 1967*. The same
   tool also covers s.44(11D) wakaf and endowment, and the separate exemption
   route under the Income Tax (Exemption) Order 2020, P.U.(A) 139/2020 — three
   different regimes that a receipt may cite loosely.
4. Check **Kategori**. Approvals are granted to specific vehicles — institution
   or organisation, wakaf, endowment, school building fund, place-of-worship
   construction fund, place-of-worship management fund, welfare and education
   fund. A body approved for one fund is not approved for another.
5. Read **Status**. Only *DILULUSKAN* and *DILULUSKAN (LANJUTAN TEMPOH)* —
   approved, and approved with an extension of period — support a claim.
   *TAMAT TEMPOH KELULUSAN* and *KELULUSAN DITARIK BALIK* do not.

The existence of an extension status is the tell: approval is granted for a
period, not permanently. Check on the date of the gift, not the date of the
claim, and keep a dated screenshot with the receipt.

If a body has been refused, s.44(6B) gives it 30 days from being informed to
appeal to the Minister — which is why a charity may honestly describe an
application as pending. Pending is not approved.

## Common mistakes

**Claiming 10% of chargeable income.** The cap is 10% of **aggregate income**,
which sits several lines earlier in the computation.

**Stacking four separate 10% claims** for institution, sports, national-interest
and wakaf gifts. The provisos share one ceiling.

**Trusting the receipt wording.** The claim to approval is the charity's, and it
is frequently stale.

**Claiming a gift in kind under s.44(6).** Only money qualifies.

**Companies forgetting the basis-period rule.** For a company, LLP, trust body
or co-operative, s.44(12) reads references to the basis year as the basis period
for that year of assessment.

## What's next

Before your next corporate donation, run the reference number through the
checker and file the result with the payment voucher. If you plan to give more
than 10% of aggregate income, split the gift across two basis periods — the
excess in one year is not deferred, it is lost.

## Sources

- Income Tax Act 1967 (Act 53), reprint as at 21 May 2024 — s.44(6) to s.44(12) — https://www.hasil.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/20240521-akta-cukai-pendapatan-1967-akta-53.pdf (LHDN)
- Public Ruling No. 7/2025 — Taxation of a Resident Individual Part I, Gifts or Contributions and Allowable Deductions — https://www.hasil.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/pr-7-2025.pdf (LHDN)
- Semakan Kelulusan Derma — approved donation checker — https://www.hasil.gov.my/institusiorganisasitabung-bukan-berasaskan-keuntungan/semakan-kelulusan-derma/ (LHDN)

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