20th July 2026 - 6 min read
Where you claim your course fees can change your tax bill by a few hundred ringgit. The same receipt can go under the education fees relief or the lifestyle relief when you file for Year of Assessment (YA) 2026, and one of them usually has far more room than the other.
So if your lifestyle relief is already partly used up on your phone or internet bill, there is no need to keep putting off that course. Education relief is a separate claim, and its RM2,000 allocation for upskilling courses is sitting there for exactly this purpose.
The education fees relief lets you claim up to RM7,000 a year for your own studies. It covers any master’s or doctorate programme, as well as tertiary-level courses in approved fields ranging from law and accounting to technical and scientific studies, taken at institutions recognised by the Malaysian Government or approved by the Minister of Finance. The full list of eligible fields is on LHDN’s tax reliefs page.
Within that RM7,000, there is a sub-limit of RM2,000 for upskilling and self-enhancement courses, and this sub-limit has been extended to YA 2026 under Budget 2024. To qualify, the course must be conducted by a body recognised by the Director General of Skills Development under the National Skills Development Act 2006. Accredited programmes cover everything from coding and digital marketing to baking, sewing, and drone piloting, so the deciding factor is the provider’s accreditation rather than the subject. If the studio or trainer is not accredited, the course will not qualify.
The lifestyle relief gives you up to RM2,500 a year for a mix of everyday purchases. This includes books and journals, smartphones, tablets, personal computers, monthly internet subscription bills, and fees for self-enhancement courses.
This relief fills up fast. A mid-range smartphone alone can cost RM1,500 to RM2,500, and a year of home internet at RM100 a month adds another RM1,200. Once you add a couple of books, you have likely gone past the cap before claiming a single ringgit of course fees.
Fees for upskilling and self-enhancement courses are the one expense that qualifies under both reliefs. The education relief accepts them through its RM2,000 sub-limit, while the lifestyle relief lists self-enhancement course fees among its claimable items, so a single course receipt gives you a genuine choice of where to claim. No other expense gets this treatment: your phone and internet bill can only go under lifestyle, and your master’s degree tuition can only go under education fees.
The Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) does not allow you to claim the same receipt twice, so a single course fee must go under one relief in full. If you paid RM3,000 for a qualifying course, you also cannot split it, for example by putting RM2,000 under education and RM1,000 under lifestyle.
The table below sums up the differences for YA 2026, which you will file in early 2027.
| Education fees relief | Lifestyle relief | |
| Annual limit | RM7,000 | RM2,500 |
| Course fees claimable | Yes, with RM2,000 sub-limit for upskilling courses | Yes, within the overall RM2,500 |
| Other items claimable | Tuition for recognised degrees and professional fields | Books, phones, computers, tablets, and internet bills |
| Recognition requirement | Institution or body recognised by the government, including the Director General of Skills Development for upskilling courses | The course must be for upskilling or self-enhancement, does not need to be registered or recognised by any government body, must have expenses supported by receipts issued by the course provider, and may include courses unrelated to the taxpayer’s job, such as hobbies, religion, or languages |
One catch: since the RM2,000 sub-limit counts towards the RM7,000 cap, anyone already claiming RM7,000 in master’s degree tuition has no room left for a short course under education relief.
Plan your gadget purchases carefully, because if your course can only be claimed under lifestyle relief, the course and your devices are competing for the same RM2,500 relief budget. Lifestyle relief absorbs your phone, laptop, books, and internet bills, and those alone can use up the full amount. Education relief, on the other hand, often goes unused unless you are studying for a degree, so claim your course fees there whenever the course qualifies.
Say you buy a RM1,900 laptop, pay RM600 for home internet over the year, and spend RM1,500 on an accredited data analytics course. The table below shows where each receipt should go.
| Expense | Claim under | Amount claimed |
| Laptop (RM1,900) and internet (RM600) | Lifestyle relief | RM2,500 |
| Data analytics course (RM1,500) | Education relief | RM1,500 |
| Total relief | RM4,000 |
Every ringgit you spend gets claimed. Put the course under lifestyle relief instead and your total claim drops to RM2,500, since the course would take up RM1,500 of the cap and squeeze out most of your laptop and internet spending. That RM1,500 difference costs you roughly RM285 in extra tax at a 19% bracket.
Some courses do not meet the education relief’s recognition requirement, though. Lifestyle relief then becomes your only option, so the gadget planning becomes more important. You could hold off on a new phone until next year, or claim the course this year and save your bigger gadget purchases for a year with no course fees to claim.
Before you sign up for any course with tax relief in mind, ask the provider whether the programme is accredited under the National Skills Development Act 2006, or check the Department of Skills Development’s list of accredited programmes. Providers that qualify will usually say so upfront, since it is a selling point.
Keep your official receipt and any accreditation details for seven years, as required under the Income Tax Act 1967. LHDN can ask for supporting documents even after your refund has been paid out, and a receipt that states the course name and provider makes your claim much easier to defend.
You have until 31 December 2026 to make qualifying purchases for YA 2026, which you will file in early 2027. If your lifestyle relief is already full and you have been putting off that course, claiming it under the education relief could be the cheaper way to finally sign up.
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Pugaleshwaran Raja Kumaran is a Tax Executive Director at ThinkTX Consultants, with over a decade of experience delivering strategic and practical tax solutions. He advises high-net-worth individuals, multinational corporations, and growing businesses, helping them manage complex tax matters with clarity and confidence.
He has extensive experience across a broad range of tax engagements, including corporate tax compliance, Capital Gains Tax (CGT), withholding tax, stamp duty, Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT), Sales and Service Tax (SST), and advisory on inbound and outbound investments. He also leads practice areas covering tax incentives, tax audits and investigations, private client advisory, tax due diligence, and e-Invoicing advisory, providing comprehensive support across the business life cycle.
Beyond client advisory, Pugaleshwaran actively contributes to the tax profession through writing and speaking on Malaysian tax policy, regulatory developments, and industry best practices. His work has been published by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) and Wolters Kluwer (CCH), including contributions to Malaysia’s Sales and Service Tax (SST) content updates.
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As a trusted tax partner of RinggitPlus, Pugaleshwaran reviews and verifies Malaysian taxation content to ensure it is accurate, compliant, and relevant for everyday Malaysians.
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