Are Capital Gains Tax and Real Property Gains Tax the same?

If you have ever wondered whether Capital Gains Tax and Real Property Gains Tax are the same, the short answer is no. Capital Gains Tax, often called CGT, is a broad tax on profits from selling capital assets such as shares or property. Real Property Gains Tax, or RPGT, is a specific Malaysian regime that targets gains from selling Malaysian real estate and shares in real property companies. The distinction matters because the rules, rates and even who is taxed can be very different across jurisdictions. In Malaysia this difference has grown since 2024, when the country introduced a targeted CGT on certain share disposals while keeping RPGT for land and buildings. Shares in a real property company have also been realigned so that some disposals fall under CGT rather than RPGT.

In Malaysia, RPGT taxes gains from the disposal of land and interests over land in Malaysia, as well as shares in a real property company, using a holding period schedule. Citizens and permanent residents pay 30 percent if they sell within three years of acquisition, 20 percent in year four, 15 percent in year five, and 0 percent from year six onward. Companies incorporated in Malaysia keep paying 10 percent from the sixth year, and non-citizens or non-resident companies also face 10 percent from the sixth year. Since 2025 the system has moved to self-assessment, and sellers must file within the statutory window. Buyers may have to remit a retention amount from the price, typically 3, 5 or 7 percent depending on the counterparty, which is credited against the seller’s RPGT bill. The filing and payment timeline has also been updated, so timing your paperwork is part of the cash flow planning.

Malaysia’s newer CGT regime works differently. It targets gains on disposals of unlisted shares in Malaysian-incorporated companies, and certain foreign shares that derive value from Malaysian property, generally at 10 percent on net gains. For assets acquired before 2024 there was a limited option to apply 2 percent on gross proceeds for disposals made up to late February 2024. Individuals are not within Malaysia’s CGT charge, but companies, LLPs, co-operatives and trust bodies are. That carve-out is one reason people sometimes confuse the two taxes. If you are an individual selling a house, you think RPGT. If you are a company selling unlisted shares, you think CGT. Both regimes now sit side by side.

Singapore does not impose a general Capital Gains Tax for individuals. Gains from selling property or shares are usually treated as capital and not taxable. There is an important caveat. If your pattern of buying and selling looks like trading, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore can treat the profit as income and tax it under normal income tax rules, which is assessed using factors such as frequency, intent and holding period. Property that is flipped quickly may also attract Seller’s Stamp Duty, which the government increased in July 2025 by extending the holding period to four years and lifting rates. Stamp duty is a transaction levy, not a tax on the gain, so it applies whether you profit or not. These features make Singapore feel like a no-CGT system on the surface, yet the rules still discourage short-term speculation.

Hong Kong also has no general Capital Gains Tax. Instead, it uses stamp duties to curb rapid property resales. Special Stamp Duty is chargeable if you sell within prescribed holding windows, and the Inland Revenue Department is clear that SSD is a levy on the instrument, not a charge on profit. Rates and scales for stamp duties are updated from time to time, so you should check the current table before committing to a sale or purchase.

The United Kingdom sits at the other end of the spectrum. It applies Capital Gains Tax to most disposals of assets that are not your main residence. Since 6 April 2024, residential property gains are taxed at 18 percent for basic rate taxpayers and 24 percent for higher rate taxpayers, with private residence relief protecting your primary home in most cases. The annual exempt amount has also shrunk to 3,000 pounds per person for 2024 to 2026, which means more modest gains can now be caught. If you sell a UK residential property that triggers CGT, you must report and pay within 60 days of completion, so the admin timeline is short.

So are Capital Gains Tax and Real Property Gains Tax ever interchangeable in practice? Not really. RPGT is a Malaysian cornerstone that looks at the asset class first, then the holding period. CGT is a broader concept that many countries apply to a wide range of assets, often with annual allowances, reliefs and rate tiers. If you are a Malaysian citizen selling a condo you have held for seven years, RPGT is 0 percent under current law, yet if your company sells shares in a private Malaysian business, CGT can apply. If you are a UK tax resident selling a rental flat, CGT applies regardless of how long you held it and you must meet the 60-day reporting deadline. If you are a Singapore or Hong Kong resident, there is no blanket CGT, but stamp duties and income tax rules can still bite if your pattern of activity looks speculative.

When clients feel unsure about which rule set applies, I bring the conversation back to three anchors that keep planning practical. First is timeline. RPGT cares deeply about holding periods, and in Malaysia a sixth-year disposal for citizens and permanent residents is different from a fifth-year disposal. The UK cares less about how long you held an asset and more about whether the asset is your main home and how much the gain exceeds your annual exemption. Singapore and Hong Kong care about whether you are trading and whether short holding periods trigger stamp duties, not whether you made a profit.

Second is asset type. Malaysia separates land and buildings under RPGT from unlisted shares under CGT. The UK applies CGT to most assets that are not your main residence. Singapore and Hong Kong rely more on stamp duties and anti-trading principles for property, and they treat most long-term share disposals as capital. Your planning should start by naming the asset precisely, then mapping it to the correct regime.

Third is taxpayer status. In Malaysia, individuals are outside the CGT net while entities are inside. For RPGT, citizens and permanent residents enjoy a sixth-year 0 percent rate that companies and non-residents do not. In the UK there is a single system, but your income band determines your CGT rate, and spouses can plan together to use two annual exemptions. In Singapore and Hong Kong, the question is less about residence for CGT and more about whether your behaviour looks like trading and whether stamp duty applies.

Here is how those anchors help in the real world. A Malaysian professional plans to sell a Johor apartment after seven years. As a citizen, the RPGT rate is currently 0 percent, although a retention sum may still be withheld and later reconciled through filing. If she sells her stake in a private Sdn Bhd, her company’s gain may fall under the CGT rules instead, which carry their own filing and computation mechanics. Her decisions are therefore not about one tax versus the other in theory, but which regime matches each asset and what that means for timing, paperwork and cash flow.

Consider a UK-based expat landlord who sells a rental flat after a decade. The holding period does not remove the charge. He calculates the gain, uses his 3,000 pound annual exemption and files within 60 days. If the property was once his main home, he checks private residence relief. The planning priority is accurate records for improvement costs and a clean compliance timeline.

Or take a Singapore couple who are upgrading. There is still no general CGT on the sale of their existing home, yet Seller’s Stamp Duty may apply if they sell within the revised holding window that took effect in July 2025. If they have a pattern of buying and selling quickly, IRAS can test intent and treat the gains as income. For most long-term owners the sale remains capital in nature, but the presence of stamp duties and the trading motive test means the journey is structured rather than laissez-faire.

One final nuance is paperwork and deadlines, because these shape stress and cost. Malaysia’s RPGT has a buyer retention and strict filing timeframe that recently moved toward self-assessment, which changes the rhythm of transactions. The UK’s 60-day property reporting rule compresses your post-completion to-do list and creates a need for earlier calculations. Singapore’s stamp duty obligations arise on instruments and require attention to completion dates and the new SSD rules. Creating a simple sale checklist for each jurisdiction can prevent avoidable penalties or interest.

In short, Capital Gains Tax and Real Property Gains Tax are not the same, either in concept or in practice. Treat them as distinct frameworks that sometimes sit alongside each other, especially in Malaysia. Start with your timeline, then define the asset, then confirm who the taxpayer is under that rule set. From there, you can decide on a sensible disposal date, gather the right documents, and plan cash flow for payments or refunds. If you keep the conversation anchored in your goals rather than fear, the rules become easier to navigate.