Closing a business down

As an amateur in running a business in Malaysia, here was my experience in officially closing down one (actually 2).

Expiry and non-renewal of business registration

Through SSM, your business registration requires renewal annually. In the case where you choose not to renew, the registration lapse and can still be renewed within a year after your business registration expiry date.

However to close our business tax registration number, so there is no more need to declare annual taxes for a business we don't run anymore, we are required to officially log a business closure through SSM. This an be done online and an e-document (Certification on Expiry of a Business Registration) will be provided to formally state that our business has expired. This document is required to supplement the request for the next bit.

Closing our business tax registration number

When we registered for our business, we were given a tax registration number that requires us to declare our annual income. This will substitute our individual yearly income tax declaration. To convert our income tax declaration method back to an individual one, we have to formally request to cancel our business tax registration number.

To do so, we were instructed to write a formal letter to LHDN, printed on a document with the company's letterhead. I'm not sure how other company does it, but Canva was a lifesaver. I used a template letterhead on the platform and replaced the logo and information accordingly before using it for the formal letter writing needed for LHDN. Feel free to include a little branding of yours.

If you'd like a sample, this is what we submitted:

We were told they will also contact us if there are any additional clarifications they may need.

Once submitted, an email confirmation will be provided within the next 30 days.