How to Renew Expired Road Tax?

An expired road tax is a tax imposed on a vehicle with lapse invalidity. In order for any car owner to be able to drive legally on the road, apart from having a valid driving license, another important document that must be portrayed on the vehicle would be the road tax.

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What Happens If The Road Tax Expires?

A vehicle road tax usually expires after a period of 12 months. After a period of one year, the road tax is considered expired and needs to be renewed. You can easily check the date of the expiry of the road tax on the road tax itself. Or you can also check the date online through the Road Transport Department Malaysia or more known as the JPJ portal.

The portal will provide you with details like the date of commencement and the expiry date of your road tax, along with the insurance expiry date. Just follow these four simple steps once you are at the website;

Search for Inquiry of Motor Vehicle License Expiry.
Select your Identification Card Category (for example MyKad).
Fill in your Identification Card Number along with your Vehicle Registration Number.
After all the details are filled in, just click submit.

The grace period for an expired road tax before the mandatory Puspakom inspection is one year in order for any road tax renewal is allowed. However, back in September 2020, it was announced and confirmed by transport minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong that private cars and motorcycles with a road tax expiring for a period of not more than three (3) years would be able to extend their road tax without having to undergo a Puspakom inspection.

This is a great opportunity as on the record it shows that there are more than 4.27 million vehicles with expired road tax within one to three years. Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, many vehicle owners faced financial constraints. Hence the government has taken into consideration their request to help lighten the burden.

What Happens If You Drive with an Expired Road Tax in Malaysia?

Driving with an expired road tax may lead you into trouble. Although no penalty will be imposed on you, you still are at risk of getting a summons. Yes, you heard it right! If you are wondering how much is the penalty on expired road tax, the answer is none. In Malaysia, there is no penalty incurred to any private vehicle road tax that is expired if less than a year.

Before the announcement made by our Minister of Transportation in increasing the grace period from 1 year to 3 years. Any private vehicle with an expired road tax after one year will have to go and get a mandatory vehicle inspection called special inspection done at any of the Computerized Vehicle Inspection Centre or better known as PUSPAKOM.

When driving on the road with a vehicle that has an expired road tax if you were stopped or passed through a roadblock by the police, you will be summoned for not having a valid road tax, as well as a summons for not having valid car insurance. This is because it is against Malaysia law for any vehicle to be on the road without a valid road tax and insurance. If your road tax is expired it also means that you do not have current valid insurance on your vehicle. As it is compulsory for any insurance to be renewed the vehicle road tax needs to be renewed first. You are not allowed to renew insurance without a valid road tax.

How To Renew Your Expired Road Tax?

If you wish to avoid the mandatory car inspection at PUSPAKOM, make sure that you renew your road tax within the grace period given, which now has been increased from 1 year to up to 3 years from the date of expiry.

To make sure that you have a smooth renewal process for your expired road tax, make sure that you pay all the summons that has been issued to you. You can settle the outstanding summons through PDRM or JPJ counter (or whichever issued you the summons), Pos Malaysia branches nationwide or online through MyEG.

There are a few items that PUSPAKOM will be checking on during the Special Inspection, which can be read through below:

Testing on the vehicle’s suspension system performance.
Examining the vehicle’s upper body condition.
Checking on the vehicle’s registration, chassis and engine numbers originality.
Measuring the visible light transmittance rating of windscreens and glasses.
Testing on the vehicle’s front wheel’s alignment.
Measuring the smokes emitted from the vehicle is not exceeding from the legal limits.
Checking on the vehicle brake performance.
Examining the vehicle’s under-carriage condition.

The overall inspection is done to ensure that the vehicle is safe and qualified to be on the road again. As for the fees imposed by PUSPAKOM on the inspection, for private vehicles we have listed them out for you here:

Van, MPV, Jeep, Pick-up – RM50.00
Car – RM25.00
Motorcycle – RM20.00

Can Expired Road Tax Be Renewed in the post office in Malaysia?

Wondering if you can renew your expired road tax at Pos Malaysia? Well, yes! You are still able to renew your road tax at the post office provided that your expiry is still within the 3 years period from the date of expiry. Now all you need to do is visit any of the Pos Malaysia branches in the nation, but do make sure you check their operating hours before visiting. This is to avoid any disappointments if the branch is closed or there are changes to the hours of operation.

It used to be very difficult to renew road tax at the post office, with the queue and lots of documents needed. However, nowadays the process has been simplified. All you need to do is make sure you have the following documents ready:

Identification Card / MyKad
Vehicle Registration Certificate or Copy of Car Grant
Vehicle Insurance Cover Note

If you do not have any outstanding summons you will then just need to pay for the road tax and you will instantly receive your road tax. This way, you do not have to wait any longer for your physical road tax if you were to renew online.

How Can I Renew My Road Tax Online Malaysia?

Alternatively, to save more time, you can choose the renewals of both your insurance and road tax done online at the comfort of your home or office. The most commonly used is MyEG, the online provider for e-government services. MyEG provides online services for not only road tax renewal which is through JPJ but also summons renewal by PDRM. Apart from that, you can also access the National Registration Department (JPN), Immigration Department of Malaysia, and many more.

Here is the steps-by-steps to renew your road tax via MyEG:

Visit MyEG website.
Login or create your account.
Choose the Road Transport Department (JPJ).
If you have made a renewal with MyEG in the previous year all your details would be automatically filled in.
If it is your first time, you will need to fill in all the required details.
Upon filling in all the details including the car registration number, it will prompt you the amount you need to pay.
You can choose your payment method according.
Your road tax then will be delivered to you to your preferred address or self-collection if you have chosen to pick it up yourself.

Do take note that there will be delivery charges as well for the road tax, and when the agent arrives for delivery you will be given the gadget to verify your MyKad with your thumbprint. So, don’t forget to bring along your MyKad when you greet them.

Now, why don’t you check if your road tax is still valid and not expired to avoid all the hassle and be prepared for the renewal when the time comes. Remember that it is never wrong to be well prepared earlier! Also, if you are looking for the best car insurance in Malaysia, you may visit Qoala as we offer both insurance and road tax renewal just a touch away. This way, you never need to get out of your comfort zone.