GITA Malaysia 2026: How the 60% Green Investment Tax Allowance Works for Solar

GITA (Green Investment Tax Allowance) is the main tax incentive Malaysian companies use to bring down the cost of a commercial solar system. This page explains how GITA works for solar, with reference from the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC).

A lot of the GITA content online quotes 100% for solar. That figure is real, but it belongs to a different category. For a company putting panels on its own roof to cut its own TNB bill, the correct rate is 60%. Getting this wrong at the budgeting stage means your finance team plans around a number that will not materialise. This guide sets out which tier applies to you, how the computation actually runs, and what disqualifies a claim.

What Is GITA?

GITA stands for Green Investment Tax Allowance. It is an investment tax allowance under Malaysia’s Green Technology Tax Incentive framework, designed to make green capital expenditure less painful on a company’s tax position.

It is not a rebate and not a cash grant. Nothing is paid to you. What you receive is an allowance that reduces your chargeable income, which in turn reduces the tax you pay. The cash benefit shows up as a smaller tax bill, not as money in the bank.

Two agencies are involved, and which one you deal with depends on why you are installing solar:

• MGTC handles GITA Asset for own consumption — a company installing solar to power its own factory, warehouse, office or premises. This moved from MIDA to MGTC from 1 January 2024.
• MIDA handles GITA Project (green technology as your core business) and GITE (Green Income Tax Exemption), through the InvestMalaysia portal.

GITA Asset vs GITA Project vs GITE — Which One Applies?

These three get mixed up constantly, and the difference is not cosmetic. They have different rates, different agencies and different application timing.

GITA Project and GITA Asset are mutually exclusive — a company cannot claim both on the same investment.

The distinction that trips people up: the system must be for own consumption, not for income generation. If your company installs a system and then sells the electricity to a tenant or a third party, that is income generation and it changes which incentive you are looking at.

How Much Is GITA Worth for Solar?

GITA Asset splits qualifying assets into two tiers. This is where the 60% versus 100% confusion comes from.

Both tiers are set off against the same ceiling: up to 70% of statutory income in the year of assessment. The remaining 30% of statutory income is taxed at the normal rate.

One practical consequence worth flagging to your finance team: if you are installing solar and battery storage together, the two components sit in different tiers. The battery portion attracts the higher allowance. That can change how you want the supplier to itemise the quotation.

Worked Example: RM500,000 Solar System

Take a manufacturing company installing a 250 kWp rooftop system for its own factory. Qualifying capital expenditure: RM500,000.

Step 1 — calculate the allowance.
60% × RM500,000 = RM300,000 GITA allowance

Step 2 — check how much can be absorbed this year.
Say statutory income for the year of assessment is RM800,000.
Maximum offset = 70% × RM800,000 = RM560,000.
The full RM300,000 fits under that ceiling, so the whole allowance is used in one year.

Step 3 — work out the tax saved.
At the standard corporate rate of 24%: RM300,000 × 24% = RM72,000 in tax saved.

Now the more common scenario, where the allowance does not fit in one year. Same RM500,000 system, but statutory income is only RM300,000.

• Maximum offset this year = 70% × RM300,000 = RM210,000
• Allowance used in year 1 = RM210,000
• Balance carried forward = RM90,000, used against future statutory income until fully absorbed

Unutilised GITA is not lost. It carries forward. But a company with thin or fluctuating profits will take several years to extract the full value, which matters if you are comparing GITA against financing options in a cash flow model.

Malaysian resident SMEs (paid-up capital RM2.5 million or below and gross business income not exceeding RM50 million, subject to further conditions) are taxed at 15% on the first RM150,000 of chargeable income, 17% from RM150,001 to RM600,000, and 24% above that. A lower tax rate means a lower cash value from the same allowance — run the numbers against your actual rate, not the headline 24%.

Who Qualifies for GITA Asset

The conditions are specific, and each one is a genuine gate:

• The applicant is a company incorporated under the Companies Act 2016 and resident in Malaysia. Sole proprietors, partnerships and individuals do not qualify.
• Both new and existing companies are eligible.
• The asset is used in the business carried out by the company in Malaysia.
• The asset is used for own consumption, not for income generation.
• The asset is on the MyHIJAU Directory — verified by MGTC and approved by the Minister of Finance.
• Qualifying capital expenditure is incurred between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2026.

If you are a homeowner rather than a company, GITA is not your incentive. Read Solar Incentives Malaysia 2026 for Solar ATAP and the SuRIA Home rebate instead.

How to Apply for GITA

1. Confirm the equipment is MyHIJAU listed before you sign anything. Ask your installer for the MyHIJAU registration of the specific panel and inverter models being quoted, not a general claim that they are “MyHIJAU certified”. Check it against the MyHIJAU Directory.
2. Keep the capital expenditure documentation clean — quotation, purchase order, invoices, proof of payment, and the commissioning certificate. The expenditure date drives your 24-month clock.
3. Commission the system. The application is submitted after the asset is commissioned, not before.
4. Submit to MGTC using the GITA Asset application form, within 24 months of the date the qualifying capital expenditure was incurred.
5. Claim through your tax return once MGTC approves. Your tax agent applies the allowance against statutory income in the relevant year of assessment.

Work with your tax agent from the start rather than at filing time. The sequence of expenditure date, commissioning date and application date is what most claims turn on.

Common Mistakes That Kill a GITA Claim

• Equipment not on MyHIJAU. The most common failure. A cheaper panel that is not listed can cost you the entire allowance — on a RM500,000 system that is RM72,000 of tax benefit gone to save a few thousand on hardware.
• Budgeting at 100% instead of 60%. The rate for solar own-consumption is 60%. Building a business case on 100% overstates the benefit by two thirds.
• Missing the 24-month window. The clock runs from the expenditure date. Companies that commission late and file later run out of window.
• Assuming the deadline is far away. Qualifying capital expenditure must be incurred by 31 December 2026. A commercial solar project takes months from quotation to commissioning — starting in late 2026 is cutting it fine.
• Selling the power. If the system generates income rather than offsetting your own consumption, GITA Asset is the wrong category.
• Applying to the wrong agency. Own consumption goes to MGTC, not MIDA. This changed in January 2024 and older guides still point to MIDA.

Why the 31 December 2026 Deadline Matters Now

The qualifying expenditure window closes at the end of 2026. Whether it is extended again is a Budget decision, and no company should plan around an extension that has not been announced.

A commercial rooftop project realistically runs several months from first site visit to commissioning — site survey, structural assessment, design, procurement, installation, TNB and authority approvals, then commissioning. Add procurement lead times on inverters and the timeline stretches further. If your company wants the expenditure to land inside the window, the decision needs to be made well before the deadline, not near it.

GITA and the Rest of Your Solar Numbers

GITA reduces your tax. It does not change your electricity savings, your system cost, or your payback period on its own — it sits on top of them. To size the whole picture you also need your current tariff, your consumption pattern, and whether you are on a Time-of-Use arrangement.

Frequently Asked Questions About GITA

The questions Malaysian companies ask most often about GITA:

Want to understand how your TNB tariff is calculated before you size a system? Read the TNB Tariff Malaysia guide. Want the bill side of the equation? Use the free TNB Bill Calculator.

This page explains a government tax incentive in general terms based on the published MGTC guideline. It is not tax advice. Confirm your company’s position with your tax agent or directly with MGTC before filing.