Net Income Guide
🇲🇾 Malaysia Freelancers on Fiverr: Real Money After Tax
A RM120,000 invoice from Fiverr is not RM120,000 in your pocket. The platform takes its 20% fee first, then Malaysia income tax takes its share of what the fee left behind. This page shows what a Malaysia freelancer actually keeps — calculated with the same brackets and deductions as our Malaysia tax calculator.
What Fiverr pays, then what Malaysia tax takes
| Gross invoice | Fiverr fee | You receive | Malaysia tax | Net you keep | Loss vs gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RM60,000 | RM12,000 | RM48,000 | RM840 | RM47,160 | 21.4% |
| RM120,000 | RM24,000 | RM96,000 | RM6,930 | RM89,070 | 25.8% |
| RM240,000 | RM48,000 | RM192,000 | RM30,150 | RM161,850 | 32.6% |
the 20% commission that hurts most on mid-size projects. The loss column is the whole story: it combines the platform cut with Malaysia income tax, so a low tax rate can still hide inside an expensive platform fee.
The same invoice paid directly
The real question most Malaysia freelancers ask is whether the platform is worth it. On a RM120,000 project, here is every option:
| Channel | Fee | Net after tax |
|---|---|---|
| Upwork | RM12,000 | RM98,790 |
| Fiverr | RM24,000 | RM89,070 |
| Freelancer.com | RM12,000 | RM98,790 |
| Direct client | RM0 | RM107,850 |
Landing the same job directly would leave you RM18,780 more — about 16 points of extra net income. That difference is the price of the leads, escrow, and protection Fiverr provides, and it is usually worth paying while you are still building reviews.
How Malaysia tax treats platform income
Malaysia treats freelance earnings as business income reported on Form B, and the country is unusually generous about costs: platform commissions qualify under the wholly-and-exclusively rule, so every ringgit of fee directly lowers your taxable profit before the progressive brackets apply. On top of that, the RM9,000 individual relief plus the lifestyle, EPF, insurance, medical, and education reliefs shrink the bill further. Residents spend 182+ days a year in Malaysia to keep the resident scale instead of the non-resident flat 24%.
Can you deduct the Fiverr fee on your Malaysia return? Yes. As Form B business income, every documented platform fee is deductible under the wholly-and-exclusively rule, which lowers your taxable profit directly.
Withdrawal and exchange-rate costs
Fiverr deducts its 20% commission the moment an order completes, and withdrawing the balance afterwards adds an extra fee: $3 ACH, $30 wire, or the PayPal/Payoneer percentage on top.
Currency conversion is the quiet third cost. PayPal charges roughly 2.9% plus a fixed fee on international transfers, Payoneer takes about 2%, a US wire transfer costs around $30, and Wise-style services often land under 1% near the mid-market rate. On a RM120,000 payout, that can add another few percent on top of the table above — so the routing decision matters almost as much as the platform choice.
Frequently asked questions
What do I actually keep from a RM120,000 Fiverr invoice?
On a RM120,000 invoice, Fiverr takes RM24,000 before you see a cent, and your Malaysia income tax removes RM6,930 more — you keep RM89,070, about 25.8% of the headline amount. Before waving goodbye to any more of it, the withdrawal and conversion fees above still apply.
Is the Fiverr fee worth it compared with direct clients?
On this kind of project the platform costs you about 26% of gross once tax is included, while a direct client would keep you closer to 10% net. The platform pays for itself when it brings clients you could not source alone — which is exactly what happens in your first year of reviews.
Is overseas client income from Fiverr taxable in Malaysia?
Yes. Once you are a Malaysian tax resident, income from overseas clients is taxable; non-residents are subject to a flat 24% on Malaysian-source income.
Run the numbers yourself
Explore every country and platform in the Net Income Explorer, compute your exact case with the Malaysia tax calculator, price the platform side with the Fiverr fee calculator, and bill cleanly with the invoice generator.