Foreign worker salary calculator 2026

On RM3,000 a month in 2026, a foreign worker on a contract of 182 days or more takes home RM2,903.10: RM60 EPF (2%), RM36.90 SOCSO with LINDUNG 24 Jam, no EIS and no PCB. On a shorter contract PCB is a flat 30%: RM900 a month.

Rates checked 26 October 2026

The same salary, three ways

A foreign worker pays less EPF than a Malaysian, no EIS, and PCB either by LHDN’s formula or at a flat rate, depending on the length of the employment contract. On RM5,000 a month in 2026, single and under 60:

RM5,000 a month, 2026
	Malaysian	Foreign worker, 182 days or more	Foreign worker, under 182 days
EPF	RM550.00	RM100.00	RM100.00
SOCSO and LINDUNG 24 Jam	RM61.90	RM61.90	RM61.90
EIS	RM9.90	RM0.00	RM0.00
PCB	RM110.00	RM124.00	RM1,500.00
Take-home	RM4,268.20	RM4,714.10	RM3,338.10
Employer pays on top	RM746.55	RM186.65	RM186.65

EPF: 2% each since October 2025

From the October 2025 wages, EPF is compulsory for employees who aren’t Malaysian citizens or permanent residents and hold a valid passport and work pass: 2% of wages from the worker and 2% from the employer, under Part F of KWSP’s Third Schedule. Domestic workers are left out. Before then, contributing was the worker’s choice, so the calculator takes no EPF for a foreign worker in earlier years.

Each share is rounded up to the ringgit: on RM3,000 that’s RM60 from the worker and RM60 from the employer, against RM330 from a Malaysian. The EPF rates guide has the Malaysian rates.

SOCSO and LINDUNG 24 Jam

Foreign workers have been covered by SOCSO’s employment injury scheme since 1 January 2019, paid by the employer, and by its invalidity scheme since 1 July 2024, on the same PERKESO table as Malaysians. On RM3,000 that’s RM14.75 from the worker and RM51.65 from the employer.

LINDUNG 24 Jam, PERKESO’s cover for accidents outside work, adds 0.75% from the worker since 1 June 2026: RM22.15 on RM3,000. Malaysians can opt out of it; foreign workers can’t. A worker who first joined SOCSO at 55 or over, or who is 60 or over, is in the second category: employment injury only, paid by the employer. The SOCSO and LINDUNG 24 Jam guide has the table.

No EIS

The Employment Insurance System Act leaves out foreign employees (First Schedule, paragraph 10), apart from permanent residents and a few others holding a Malaysian identity card. So neither the worker nor the employer pays EIS, and the calculator shows nothing for it.

PCB: resident or non-resident

LHDN’s specification sets PCB for an employee who isn’t resident at 30% of remuneration, with no reliefs, rebates or EPF relief. Its own example: RM3,000.00 × 30% = RM900.00 a month.

A foreign worker on an employment contract of 182 days or more is taxed as a resident: PCB by the same formula, reliefs and rates as a Malaysian. With only 2% EPF there’s less EPF relief, so on RM5,000 PCB is RM124 a month against RM110 for a Malaysian; on a shorter contract it’s RM1,500. PCB is an advance on the year’s tax: whether you’re resident for the year depends on the days you spend in Malaysia, and is settled when you file.

What the calculator doesn’t cover

domestic workers, whose EPF and SOCSO rules differ;
non-citizens who joined EPF before 1 August 1998, who aren’t under Part F;
the special PCB formulas for the Returning Expert Programme, knowledge workers in specified regions and non-citizen C-suite staff of approved companies;
allowances and benefits that are tax-exempt for a non-resident, which come off the pay PCB is worked on.

For a Malaysian or a permanent resident, use the salary calculator.

Other calculators

Questions

Can a foreign worker opt out of LINDUNG 24 Jam?

No. In July 2026 the Cabinet made LINDUNG 24 Jam optional for Malaysian employees, but the Human Resources Minister said it stays compulsory for foreign workers. The calculator always includes it for them.

Do expatriates pay EPF too?

Yes. The 2% applies to non-citizen employees holding a valid passport and work pass, expatriates included. Domestic workers, such as maids, cooks and drivers in a household, are left out.

Why does PCB depend on the length of my contract?

LHDN’s specification taxes an employee who isn’t resident at a flat 30% of pay. Since August 2017 a foreign worker on an employment contract of 182 days or more, including holders of the Visit Pass (Temporary Employment) and expatriates, has PCB worked out as a resident instead, with the same reliefs and rates as a Malaysian.

Does a foreign worker’s EPF count as tax relief?

For a resident, yes: up to RM4,000 a year, as for anyone, and the PCB formula already allows for it. A non-resident’s flat 30% has no reliefs at all, EPF included.

Sources

LHDN (Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia): Specification for Monthly Tax Deduction (MTD) Calculations Using Computerised Calculation for 2026 (checked 28 October 2026)
KWSP (EPF): Third Schedule, EPF Act 1991: contribution rates from 1 October 2025 (checked 26 October 2026)
Human Resources Online (reporting KWSP’s announcement): Mandatory EPF contributions for non-Malaysian citizen employees from the October 2025 wages: 2% each, domestic servants excepted (3 October 2025) (checked 28 October 2026)
PERKESO (copy circulated by Jabatan Akauntan Negara, Pahang): Employers’ Circular No. 2/2024: the Invalidity Scheme extended to foreign workers from 1 July 2024, with the Act 4 contribution table (checked 28 October 2026)
MIDA (Malaysian Investment Development Authority): Statutory contributions: SOCSO employment injury cover for foreign workers from 1 January 2019, 1.25% paid by the employer (checked 28 October 2026)
RTM Berita: Skim LINDUNG 24 Jam kekal mandatori bagi pekerja asing (9 July 2026) (checked 28 October 2026)
LawPlayer (the Act’s text as at 1 November 2021): Employment Insurance System Act 2017 (Act 800), First Schedule, paragraph 10: foreign employees are outside the Act (checked 28 October 2026)

Spotted a figure that doesn’t match your payslip or a source? Tell us; corrections are logged on the sources page.