Having a baby? Budget 2027 proposes up to RM3,000 tax relief for postnatal care

Budget 2027 proposes expanding tax relief to cover postnatal care and breastfeeding equipment, with both falling under the overall RM10,000 ‘Health and Well-being’ relief limit. — Unsplash pic

By Ida Lim

First Published: Saturday, 10 Oct 2026 9:19 AM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — The federal government is proposing to introduce a new tax relief of up to RM3,000 for care services provided by confinement centres or qualified individuals after mothers give birth.

In its proposed Budget 2027 tabled in Parliament yesterday, the Finance Ministry also proposed to reclassify or rename the income tax relief of medical treatment into "Health and Well-being", and to keep the existing maximum tax relief for this category at RM10,000.

Under this proposed renamed tax relief category of "Health and Well-being", the ministry proposed to expand it to cover these two expenses, starting from the tax assessment year of 2027:

• Tax relief for a maximum RM3,000 in "postnatal care service expenses provided by a confinement centre aor qualified individual";
• Tax relief for a maximum RM1,000 for breastfeeding equipment for children aged two and below "paid by self or spouse".

Currently, Malaysian women can already claim a maximum RM1,000 in tax relief when they buy breastfeeding equipment "for own use" for their own children aged two and below.

The difference under the proposed Budget 2027 is that the breastfeeding equipment tax relief will no longer be a separate item of up to RM1,000, but will be merged into or come under the category of "Health and Well-being" which comes with a maximum RM10,000 tax relief.

As of the latest tax relief rules by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) for tax assessment year 2025, the RM1,000 tax relief for breastfeeding equipment can only be claimed once in every two years of assessment by a breastfeeding mother who bought it to breastfeed her own child.

Under those existing LHDN rules, the claim must be backed by receipts, and breastfeeding equipment which qualifies are breast pump kit and ice pack; breast milk collection and storage equipment; and cooler set or cooler bag.

Quick refresher on what the existing RM10,000 tax relief for medical treatment expenses covers (You're welcome)

To save you the trouble of checking what is currently covered under the maximum RM10,000 tax relief for medical expenses, it includes:

• Serious illness for yourself, your spouse or your child;
• Fertility treatment for yourself or your spouse;
• Maximum RM1,000 only: Vaccination for yourself, your spouse or your child;
• Maximum RM1,000 only: Dental examination and treatment;
• Maximum RM1,000 only: Full medical examination; mental health examination or consultation; disease diagnostic test and purchase of self-health monitoring equipment for yourself, your spouse or your child;
• For children aged 18 and below: Assessment to diagnose learning disability; early intervention programme or rehabilitation treatment for their learning disability.