SYNERGY TAS PLUS / Critical Budget 202715–17 Dec 2026 · The Westin, Bukit Bintang KL · 21 CPD
SYNERGY TAS PLUS / Critical Budget 2027
AI makes filing the return easier. Defending it is not. For income tax · RPGT · SST · e-Invoicing · CGT · CTPD · stamp duty
November sold out. Second session added — 15, 16 & 17 December 2026.
Early bird closes 13 November 2026. Until then the fee sits inside the HRD Corp claimable ceiling and the net cost to your company is nil. After it, the fee sits RM 955 above the ceiling and the company carries the difference. See the arithmetic →
Why this seminar, this year
Tax is facing revolutionary change. Digitisation has moved on into the adoption of AI across business, accounting and tax processes — and the rules are moving with it.
Most tax seminars tell you what changed. This one tells you what to do about it — and what it costs you personally if you do nothing.
The technology is moving fast, and so are the tax rules. Dr Choong expects Budget 2027 to widen the incentives for IT companies and for factories that adopt AI. Whether your spending gets the normal deduction or qualifies for the 1.5× and 2.0× deduction depends on how you structure it and when you spend it — not just on what you bought.
Dr Choong foresees a possible 2% cut in the corporate rate alongside a dividend tax of up to 6%. That is one strategic move, not two. The aim is to close the gap between people who earn business income and people who earn a salary. If you take profits out of your own company, this is aimed at you — and it will not be reversed. What do you need to do in 2027 to manage it?
Directors are now personally responsible for the company's tax debt. If the company cannot pay, the IRB can come to you. A travel ban goes straight to Immigration, so most directors only find out at the airport. Under the sales tax rules, Customs can prosecute directors directly.
The penalty for an incorrect return is 15% to 45% of the tax you underpaid. On a large adjustment, the gap between 15% and 45% is a very big number. Loans between related companies can be adjusted and carry a surcharge on top. And do not assume a closed year stays closed — it can still be reopened.
The IRB can go back on a position it accepted before. You file it as RPGT; they assess it as income tax and add a penalty. On top of that comes the expected CGT increase, and the dividend tax you pay to take the money out. For most directors this one deal is the biggest tax event of their working life.
Three days of planning, updates and audit defence — plus the pre-election giveaways. Parliament must dissolve on 19 December 2027, so October's Budget 2027 is the last full one of this term: generous to individuals, harder on business owners. This session runs after the Budget speech and a fortnight before 2027 begins — in time to act before the new year starts.
Who this is built for
If your name goes on the form, or you advise the person whose name goes on the form, this is your three days.
Carrying group structure decisions and the distributions that follow them.
Defending positions taken in years you may not have filed yourself.
Advising a client base with the same exposure, forty times over.
Personally responsible for the company's tax debt — and subject to a travel ban.
Handling stamp duty self-assessment and the demarcation questions that come with it.
The catch nobody prices in
An incentive is not money in the bank. It is a position — and a position holds only as long as the evidence behind it does. Where your documentation fails the commercial reasonableness test, the deduction is added back and the penalty is charged on the tax undercharged.
Day 1 covers the 2026 incentives one by one, and the evidence each one needs to survive a review:
A claim you cannot defend is worse than a claim you never made.
Why 2027 is not an ordinary budget year
The 15th Parliament dissolves automatically on 19 December 2027, with a general election required within sixty days. On the constitutional arithmetic, Budget 2027 is likely to be the last full budget of this term. Dr Choong expects it to be generous to resident individuals and harder on capital — relief where the votes are, recovery where the assets sit.
Critical Budget 2027 · 15–17 December 2026 · The Westin Kuala Lumpur
Reliefs granted in an election-cycle budget are routinely narrowed in the budget that follows. Whatever lands in October has a finite claiming life.
Dr Choong's read on the 2027 proposals — generous to individuals, harder on capital
To equalise the disparity between business income and employment income.
Relief on the rate, recovered on the distribution.
Alongside evidential weakness that pushes gains into income tax.
IT sectors and manufacturing adopting AI, with 1.5× specific deductions.
Generous in scope for residents, plus probably an employment income exemption.
Budget 2027 has not been tabled. The five proposals above are Dr Choong's professional expectations based on gazette movement and policy direction through 2026 — not confirmed measures. Penalty and surcharge ranges are stated as currently legislated and are subject to change. Parliamentary dissolution dates are constitutional arithmetic under Article 55 of the Federal Constitution; no election date has been announced and none is predicted here. Content is updated with actual announcements, gazetted orders and guidelines issued one week prior to the event date.
Dr Choong Kwai Fatt
Advocate & solicitor High Court of Malaya
Tax consultant
B.Acc (Hons) Malaya · LL.B (Hons) London · CLP · MCL (IIUM) · PhD (IIUM) · FCCA (UK) · CPA (M) · CA (M) · FCCS
Full speaker profile ↓PDF · opens in a new tab
The speaker
Dr Choong is regarded as a pioneer in tax formation. He has conducted and published extensive research on Malaysian taxation since 2006 and — an avid researcher — has also studied the taxation systems of other countries to see how Malaysia compares.
Beyond identifying a position, he sets out a clear plan to implement it. That combination is why he is constantly sought after by listed companies, high-net-worth individuals and SMEs alike — for practical strategies, and for the foresight to see a tax problem before it becomes one.
As an expert in taxation and tax planning, he has personally trained corporate accountants and professional firms on income tax, RPGT, GST and SST implementation — the same practical grounding he brings to this seminar.
Get ready to take good notes. Every participant goes home with the full set of comprehensively compiled seminar materials — the write-ups, the gazette references and the workings.
Appointed by the Ministry of Finance as one of the panel members reviewing Malaysian tax reform, including the formulation of GST.
His own research on Malaysian tax, cross-checked against how other countries tax the same transactions.
Advises listed companies, wealthy families and SMEs on strategies nobody else will put in writing.
Why it matters for this seminar
A strategist who can see the audit letter two years before it arrives teaches differently — every session is built around what actually gets tested, not just what changed in the gazette.
What past participants say
We were mid-audit when I first attended, and the session on moving the penalty band from 45% down to 15% paid for itself within the month. This isn’t theoretical tax talk — it’s the exact argument structure the IRB responds to. I’ve sent my whole finance team since.
I’ve attended Critical Budget almost every year since it started, and I still come out with something I didn’t know I needed. Dr Choong doesn’t just repeat what changed in the gazette — he tells you what the auditor will actually ask you to prove. That’s the difference between a seminar you sit through and one you act on.
I sat through the Day 2 session on RPGT turning into income tax right before we restructured a shareholding. It changed how we timed and documented the whole transaction. Three years later, that one session probably saved us more than every seminar fee combined.
E-invoicing rules keep shifting and most of what I read online is already outdated by the time it’s published. Dr Choong’s breakdown of the relaxation period and where the new traps sit was the clearest I’ve seen anywhere — and I compile tax updates for a living.
Fully HRDC claimable, genuinely practical, and delivered by Dr Choong. He gives answers to tough business decisions — not just the theory. My accountants and I have attended together for the last four years running, and every year there’s a new angle on directors’ personal liability we hadn’t considered before.
Comments from participants at previous Critical Budget seminars. Names withheld at participants’ request.
Burning questions
Most seminars give you a microphone at the end and hope the clock runs out. This one is built the other way round: your questions shape the material before Dr Choong writes a single slide, and the line stays open after you go home.
Send your question ahead of the date. Dr Choong hand-picks them and builds them directly into the content — so the three days answer what your file actually needs, not a fixed script.
Three questions per participant, answered in the Q&A session. Anonymous, so you can raise the position you would never put your name to in a room full of your peers.
The questions that only surface once you are back at your desk with the file open. Post-seminar Q&A is included in the fee — you are not on your own the moment the ballroom empties.
The programme
Each day runs 9.00 AM to 6.00 PM, registration and breakfast from 8.30 AM. Dr Choong covers all material — the schedule flexes, the content does not get cut.
8.30 AM registration & breakfast · 9.00 AM first session · 10.15 AM tea · 12.30 PM lunch · 2.00 PM afternoon session · 3.45 PM tea · 5.30 PM Q&A · 6.00 PM close
Full brochure · PDF
Complete three-day programme, daily timings, speaker profile, pricing structure and the registration form — formatted for sharing with your CEO, your finance team, or your HRDC submission.
No email required. Opens in a new tab.
The venue
Three days in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The Westin sits on Jalan Bukit Bintang, directly opposite Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, within walking distance of the MRT and Monorail Bukit Bintang stations.
Level 2 · Westin Ballroom
Fees
Three days, 21 CPD hours, all compiled seminar materials, breakfast, two tea breaks and lunch daily. All prices are nett per participant, for the full three days, and service tax inclusive.
Not a price. The prices are above.
Your company already pays the HRD Corp levy every month. This is how much of the fee above comes back out of it.
That headroom disappears on 13 November. From 13 November 2026 the fee is RM 6,205 per pax, which sits RM 955 above the three-day claimable ceiling — so the company carries the difference. Group discounts of RM 300 and RM 600 still apply after the early bird closes, but the early bird is the only tier that brings the 1–2 pax fee fully inside the ceiling. Outstation participants claim more. Where the venue is 100km or more from the usual place of work, a daily allowance of up to RM 500 per pax including accommodation may be claimed, plus actual airfare with airport tax and fuel surcharge. Under 100km, up to RM 250 per pax per day. Claiming is subject to your employer’s application to PSMB, sufficient accumulated levy, and HRD Corp approval.
Prices are nett per participant for three days and are service tax inclusive. Early bird pricing is valid until 13 November 2026; from 13 November 2026 the full fee is RM 6,205 per pax, with group registration discounts of RM 300 and RM 600 still applicable. Group discounts require all participants to be booked in a single registration. Prices are subject to first come, first served basis. *HRDC claimable subject to your employer’s application to PSMB. As at time of publication HRD Corp limits the amount claimable per participant to RM 1,750 per day. Allowance figures are drawn from the HRD Corp Allowable Cost Matrix guidebook, January 2026 edition, for local public training; financial assistance is subject to grant application and approval, sufficient accumulated levy, and HRD Corp’s terms. Attendance of at least 75% of total training hours is required. HRD Corp may revise the Matrix at its sole discretion — confirm current rates with your HR before submitting. **CPD: final CPD accepted by professional bodies varies and is subject to each body’s discretion.
FAQ
Built for the people who sign the return and the people who advise them: CFOs and finance directors, tax managers defending positions they may not have filed themselves, company directors personally liable for the company’s tax debt, accounting firm partners with a client base carrying the same exposure, and company secretaries and tax agents handling stamp duty self-assessment.
Not built for anyone wanting an awareness-level summary of what changed in the gazette. This seminar is about what to do about it, and what it costs you personally if you do nothing.
Budget 2027 is tabled in October 2026. This session runs 15–17 December — a fortnight before 2027 begins. That timing is the point: you get the analysis in time to put structures in place before the new year starts, not after.
Dr Choong’s five stated expectations on this page are professional expectations based on gazette movement and policy direction through 2026 — not confirmed measures. Content is updated with the actual announcements, gazetted orders and guidelines issued up to one week before the event.
The seminar is registered under HRDC SBL-Khas, Approved No. 10001743083. Your HR applies through the HRD Corp eTRiS portal, and we supply the invoicing, attendance records and compliant documentation for the claim.
HRD Corp currently caps the claimable amount at RM 1,750 per participant per training day — RM 5,250 across three days. The early bird fee of RM 5,205 sits inside that ceiling, so the net cost to the employer is nil. From 13 November the full fee is RM 6,205, which sits RM 955 above it. Claiming is subject to your employer’s application, sufficient accumulated levy, and HRD Corp approval.
All three rates are nett per participant, for all three days, and service tax inclusive. Early bird takes RM 1,000 off the normal fee until 13 November 2026. On top of that, three or more participants booked in a single registration take a further RM 300 each, and five or more take a further RM 600 each.
Group discounts remain available after the early bird closes — they simply come off the RM 6,205 normal fee instead.
The full set of comprehensively compiled seminar materials — the write-ups, the gazette references and the workings. A certificate of attendance stating 21 CPD hours. Breakfast, two tea breaks and lunch on each of the three days.
Plus the Burning Questions allowance: unlimited questions submitted in advance, three submitted anonymously during the seminar, and three afterwards — for the issues that only surface once you are back at your desk.
Yes, and you should. There is no limit on questions submitted in advance. Dr Choong hand-picks them and builds them directly into the content, so the material reflects what the room actually needs rather than a fixed script.
A substitute delegate is allowed at no extra charge — notify us at event@synergytas.com or message Janet directly. Changing the name printed on an e-certificate after issue carries an RM 100 reprinting charge. No refund is made after payment.
Yes. All meals across the three days are halal, with vegetarian options available on request. Indicate dietary requirements on the registration form so we can confirm with the venue in advance.
In-person only, at The Westin Kuala Lumpur. The Q&A sessions deal with real structures and real exposure, and that conversation is better held in a room than over a video call.
Yes. A tax invoice is issued in your company’s name to the billing contact given at registration. PO numbers can be referenced — include yours when booking or send it to event@synergytas.com. Seats are confirmed once payment is received, on a first come first served basis.
Register
Complete the registration form and we will issue the invoice. Seats are confirmed once payment is received.
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Payment to Synergy TAS Plus Sdn. Bhd., CIMB 801 153 5385, by transfer or cheque after the invoice is issued. Quote your invoice number as reference and email the deposit slip to event@synergytas.com.
Venue. Westin Ballroom, Level 2, The Westin Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Bukit Bintang — opposite Pavilion KL, walking distance from MRT and Monorail Bukit Bintang.
Parking. Hotel parking at a flat RM 13 nett per entry, with validation.