How to Register an LLP in Malaysia: Step-by-Step Guide

By Axecta Management Services, Kuala Lumpur · Last verified: 29 October 2026

What you need before you start

SSM’s page on starting an LLP.aspx) and its general guidelines for registration set out the process. An LLP is registered through the MyLLP online portal, and the registration form is lodged by the compliance officer. Before you open the portal, settle these points.

The Act’s Second Schedule supplies default rules where your agreement is silent, but relying on defaults is rarely wise. Read what an LLP is first if you are still deciding.

Compliance officer criteria

SSM’s guidelines say the compliance officer must be a partner or a person qualified to act as a secretary, at least 18 years old, a Malaysian citizen or permanent resident, and ordinarily resident in Malaysia. Under section 28 of the Act a person cannot act if they are an undischarged bankrupt or are disqualified as a director or secretary. SSM’s wording refers to the Companies Act 1965; confirm the current criteria on SSM’s page before appointing a non-partner.

Step-by-step registration

1. Confirm the structure and the partners. Check that an LLP, not a Sdn Bhd, fits your plan using the structure checklist.
2. Choose the name. Search for a name that ends in PLT and is not identical to an existing body corporate or business. Section 14 lets you apply to reserve a name for 30 days (or longer if the Registrar allows) on payment of the prescribed fee. The fee for the reservation is not stated on the pages reviewed, so check SSM’s fee table.
3. Agree and sign the LLP agreement. Include name, nature of business, each partner’s capital contribution, profit sharing, remuneration, admission and exit terms, and what happens on a deadlock. Remember that partner remuneration is only tax deductible to the LLP if the agreement provides for it (LHDN PR 8/2022).
4. Appoint the compliance officer. They consent to act and must register with the Registrar.
5. Register the compliance officer on MyLLP and complete identity verification. The guidelines say registration is done on the MyLLP portal and the officer must go to the nearest SSM office for identity verification so they can submit documents on behalf of the LLP.
6. Lodge the application. The compliance officer submits the name, nature of business, registered office, partner details, compliance officer details and, for professional LLPs, the governing body’s approval letter, then pays the RM500 registration fee.
7. Receive the notice of registration. SSM’s page says a notice of registration is issued automatically and a certificate of registration can be requested for a prescribed fee, which the page does not quantify. Processing time is not stated on the page.
8. Keep the notice and set up the registers at the registered office.

Professional LLPs

A professional practice may form an LLP only if its partners are natural persons practising the same profession and it holds professional indemnity insurance at or above the amount approved by the Registrar (section 8). The First Schedule names the practices (chartered accountants, advocates and solicitors, and secretaries) and their governing bodies. Obtain the governing body’s letter of approval before lodging. If you are an existing professional firm, the conversion route below also needs a letter of approval or no objection.

Converting an existing partnership or company

Part V of the Act lets a conventional partnership or a private company convert. The conversion fee is also RM500.

On liability, section 41 keeps partners of a converted partnership personally liable, jointly and severally with the LLP, for liabilities incurred before the conversion. LHDN’s PR 8/2022 adds that the LLP is treated as carrying on a continuing business, so balance-sheet values carry across, and a company converting should obtain a tax clearance letter from LHDN. Keep the old entity’s accounts for seven years.

Because several steps involve creditors, advertising and tax clearance, a company conversion is slower than a fresh registration. Many owners register a new LLP and wind down the old entity; the right route depends on contracts, licences, assets and tax.

Costs

Illustrative example: a two-partner design studio registering a new LLP pays RM500 to SSM, then budgets separately for drafting the agreement, any name reservation fee and accounting. Those extras are the provider-specific part; do not assume the SSM fee is the whole bill.

After registration

• Display the name and registration number outside the registered office and place of business (section 20).
• Keep the registers at the registered office: notice of registration, register of partners and compliance officer, annual declaration, LLP agreement and amendments, and charge instruments.
• Notify changes within 14 days of any change in registered particulars, such as a new partner, address or compliance officer.
• Open a bank account. Banks set their own requirements for LLPs; see how to open a corporate bank account for the usual documents and expect to show the notice of registration and LLP agreement.
• Register for tax and set up accounts. The compliance officer or partners are responsible for the LLP’s tax filings (LHDN PR 8/2022). LHDN’s 2026 filing programme lists Form e-PT, due within 7 months after the accounting period closes. Confirm the registration steps with LHDN or your tax agent.
• Annual declaration within 90 days of the financial year-end, signed by any two partners; the first within 18 months of registration.
• Accounting records kept for at least seven years.
• Employer registrations. If you hire staff, register as an employer. See employer payroll obligations.

For the broader post-registration list for companies, what to do after incorporating is a useful template for your own checklist.

LHDN’s PR 8/2022, the LLP Act 2012 and SSM’s LLP booklet are the source documents for the points above; read them alongside your own agreement.

Common mistakes

• Appointing a compliance officer who is not resident or has not been verified. The application cannot proceed until the officer is registered.
• A name that is too close to an existing business. Section 13 lets the Registrar refuse a name identical to an existing body corporate or business.
• Copying a template LLP agreement that omits remuneration, exit and deadlock terms.
• Treating the LLP like a plain partnership and skipping the 14-day change notice or annual declaration.
• Letting the partner count drop to one without a plan; the Act allows only a limited grace period (section 7).
• Forgetting that guarantees are personal. Banks will ask partners for them.

Foreign-owned angle

The Act lets bodies corporate be partners, so a foreign company can be a partner subject to sector rules, but the compliance officer must be a Malaysian citizen or permanent resident ordinarily resident in Malaysia. A foreign LLP wanting to operate in Malaysia must register under the Act. For tax, PR 8/2025’s 20% foreign-ownership test, effective from YA 2024, can remove the lower SME rate for an LLP with foreign contributors above that level. If foreign investors are involved, compare a Sdn Bhd as well in LLP vs Sdn Bhd.

How Axecta helps

Axecta handles the whole sequence: choosing the structure, checking the name, drafting the LLP agreement points that matter for tax, registering the compliance officer and lodging the application, then setting up the annual declaration and tax return calendar. If an LLP turns out not to suit your plan, we will say so before you pay anything to SSM. See our incorporation service.

Next steps

1. Confirm the partners, capital contributions and who will be compliance officer.
2. Check the name and, if useful, reserve it.
3. Finalise the LLP agreement.
4. Register the compliance officer and lodge the application on MyLLP.
5. After you receive the notice, open a bank account, set up accounting and diarise the 14-day, 90-day and 7-month deadlines.

Frequently asked questions