Run an arts organisation or collective
A collective that never chose a vehicle is already a partnership, with liabilities it never agreed to.
What reaches you, and in what order
Partnership Act 1961
Act 135Bands, collectives and studios that never signed anything are partnerships by operation of law, with joint and several liability and a default equal profit split they never agreed to. Section 26 arrives uninvited in most band disputes.
Companies Act 2016
Act 777Section 45 company limited by guarantee is the non-profit form. It needs the Minister's licence to drop 'Berhad' and it cannot pay dividends; that is the trade-off for the charitable shape.
Societies Act 1966 (Revised - 2021)
Act 832A registered society is cheaper and faster, but the Registrar has wide powers over registration, rules and dissolution, which is a live freedom of association issue for politically engaged arts groups.
Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2012
Act 743The limited liability partnership is the practical middle form for a small studio or production partnership.
House to House and Street Collections Act 1947
Act 200If you are appealing to the public for money door to door, or soliciting in a street or other public place, that is a 'collection' under the House to House and Street Collections Act 1947 and it needs a licence from the Chief Police Officer for the area, or the Inspector-General across Peninsular Malaysia. Promoting an unlicensed collection carries a fine up to RM5,000 or two years' imprisonment or both. Selling tickets to a benefit gig is not a collection and neither is an online crowdfunder, but passing a bucket at a public event is exactly what the Act is aimed at. The machinery in the Act is Peninsular; check your state position in Sabah and Sarawak.
Employment Act 1955
Act 265** `Since 1 January 2023 the Employment Act covers anyone employed under a contract of service, whatever they are paid. If they earn more than RM4,000 a month, most of it still applies. Only five things drop away: the overtime rate, rest day pay, public holiday pay, shift allowance and termination benefits.
Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022
Act 840A complaints route now exists that does not depend on an employment relationship. Have a policy before you need one.
Personal Data Protection Act 2010
Act 709Filming the room means processing other people's personal data. Since 1 June 2025 you must notify the Commissioner of a personal data breach as soon as practicable and no later than 72 hours after it happens, and then tell the affected people within 7 days of notifying the Commissioner where the breach causes or is likely to cause them significant harm. Note the trigger: the 72 hours runs from the breach happening, not from you finding out about it, and if you miss it you have to give the Commissioner a written explanation with supporting evidence. There is no size threshold on that duty. The data protection officer duty is different: it only bites if you process the personal data of 20,000 or more people, the sensitive personal data of 10,000 or more, or your core activity is regular and systematic monitoring. Almost no individual artist will reach that.
Income Tax Act 1967
Act 53Tax-exempt status is not automatic and is separate from the vehicle you chose.
Choose the vehicle before you take the first grant. Retrofitting a CLBG around money already received is the expensive way round.
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This page is published by ALIM (Art × Law Initiative Malaysia) as general legal information for Malaysia’s creative communities. It is not legal advice. It does not take your circumstances into account, and reading it does not create a solicitor-client relationship with ALIM or with anyone associated with it.
The law changes. Each Act reproduced here is the Attorney General’s Chambers’ consolidated reprint and carries the date it was consolidated to; amendments made after that date do not appear in the text, and the authoritative version of any Malaysian law is the one published in the Federal Gazette. Subsidiary legislation, state enactments and local authority by-laws may also apply to your situation and are largely outside this library.
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