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Self-Billed e-Invoice in Malaysia (2026): When You Must Issue One

Quick answer: A self-billed e-invoice is one your business issues on behalf of the other party, rather than receiving one from them. It applies in specific situations confirmed by LHDN, including payments to agents, dealers and distributors, imported goods, imported services, and certain foreign income received.

What Makes Self-Billed e-Invoices Different

Icon graphic showing the self-billed e-invoice exchange cycle between payer and payee
Under the usual e-Invoice process, the seller issues the invoice and the buyer receives it. Self-billing flips that. In certain transactions, the party making the payment is better placed to issue the e-invoice than the party receiving it, often because the recipient isn’t set up to issue one themselves. LHDN’s rules account for this by naming specific scenarios where self-billing is the expected process rather than the exception.

Situations Where Self-Billing Applies

LHDN has officially confirmed self-billed e-invoices are required in these situations:
  • Payments to agents, dealers, and distributors, such as commission payouts.
  • Imported goods, where the self-billed e-invoice should be issued by the end of the second month after customs clearance.
  • Imported services, issued by the end of the month following payment or receipt of the supplier’s invoice, whichever comes earlier.
  • Foreign income received, issued by the end of the month following receipt of that income.
These deadlines matter because they’re tied to specific trigger events (customs clearance, payment, or receipt), not just the date of the underlying transaction.

Other Scenarios to Check With LHDN

LHDN’s Specific Guideline also describes additional situations that can call for self-billed e-invoices, such as certain profit distributions, e-commerce payouts, or payments to individuals who aren’t running a registered business. Because the detail and conditions for these situations are more nuanced than the confirmed list above, we’d rather point you to the source than summarise it loosely. The official e-Invoice Specific Guideline sets out the complete list and conditions, and it’s worth checking against your exact transaction type before assuming self-billing does or doesn’t apply.

Who Is Responsible for Issuing It

In a self-billing arrangement, the responsibility sits with the party making the payment, not the one receiving it. That’s the whole point of the mechanism: it exists for situations where the recipient (a foreign supplier, an individual agent, an overseas counterparty) either can’t or isn’t expected to issue a compliant e-invoice themselves, so the paying business steps in and generates it instead.

How SASCO Can Help

Self-billed e-invoices tend to trip businesses up because the deadlines are tied to different trigger events depending on the transaction type, and it’s easy to lose track of which one applies. Our accounting and compliance services can help you map out which of your regular payments need self-billing treatment, so it’s handled as part of your normal process rather than discovered after a deadline has passed.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who issues a self-billed e-invoice, the payer or the payee?

The payer. Self-billing exists specifically for situations where the party receiving payment isn't expected to issue their own e-invoice, so the paying business issues it on their behalf.

Do agents and distributors need to issue their own e-invoices too?

Generally no, for the specific commission payments covered by self-billing. Their principal (the business making the payment) issues the self-billed e-invoice instead. If they have other transactions outside this arrangement, those may still need separate treatment.

What's the deadline for a self-billed e-invoice on imported goods?

By the end of the second month after the goods clear customs.

Is self-billing optional?

No. Where LHDN specifies that self-billing applies to a transaction type, it's a compliance requirement, not a choice between issuing it yourself or asking the other party to do so.