Tax Free Shopping in Malaysia

Malaysia has long been acknowledged as premier shopping destination in Asia. In fact the Global Shopping Index in a recently concluded survey of world-wide shopping destinations lauded the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur’s ability to effectively combine low prices with a wide array of products and stores. The Malaysian government has long endeavored to improve and expand the shopping experience in Malaysia. To achieve this goal it has routinely organized events like shopping festivals and events like duty-free shopping extravaganzas during the holidays.  It seems that the Malaysian government is serious about establishing Malaysia, as not only the leading shopping destination in Asia, but it also wants it to become a global epicenter for duty-free shopping.

Currently Malaysia offers duty-free shopping at various designated zones in the country like:-

Airports

Duty Free zones can be found at the leading Malaysian air hubs like:

• Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)

• Bayan Lepas International Airport (Penang)

• Langkawi International Airport (Kedah)

• Kota Kinabalu International Airport (Sabah)

• Kuching International Airport (Sarawak)

In addition to the above mentioned airport locales, duty free shops also abound in port cities like Port Klang (Selangor), Tanjung Belungkur (Johor), and Pengkalan Kubur (Kelantan).  Further three Malaysian islands namely Langkawi, Labuan and Tiomen have also been declared as duty-free enclaves as they are popular vacation destinations frequented by both domestic and international tourists. Shops and malls located within these various duty-free enclaves sell products like fragrances and cosmetics, gold and jewelry, textiles, liquor, chocolates, electronics, Malaysian souvenirs and more. It is believed that the prices of duty-free goods in Malaysia are lower than elsewhere in the world.

Aside from these duty-free zones and enclaves, the Malaysian customs department has also designated approximately 300 products  as being ‘free duty’ meaning they don’t attract any import duties or customs’ levies. These ‘free duty products’ are sold all over Malaysia and are not limited to duty-free enclaves and zones.  What are these free duty goods?

According to the information available on the website of  the Royal Malaysian Customs department the 300 free duty products  include sports equipment, wrist watches, fragrances, cosmetics, gadgets like cameras and computers, gold and jewelry, leather shoes and bags, apparel from leading brands more.

Shops in various Malaysian cities like Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown, Johor Bahru, Kuching and Melaka proudly display the ‘Free Duty’ goods signage as they encourage shoppers to shop up a storm. Aside from these major cities, free- duty stores can also be found in various border towns like Padang Besar (Perlis), Bukit Kayu Hitam (Kedah), Pengkalan Hulu (Perak), Rantau Panjang (Kelantan) and Kuala Baram (Sarawak).

All these various Duty Free zones and enclaves, along with the numerous stores that sell ‘free-duty’ goods are playing their part in establishing Malaysia as prime destination for Tax-free shopping. Moreover, it helps to remember that the local Malaysian currency offers a favorable exchange rate for your pounds and dollars and most well-known retailers in Malaysia accept an assortment of popular credit cards. Measures that go a long way in helping you plan a tax-free shopping expedition to Malaysia.