Shopee or Lazada Payout Lower Than Sales: Which Is My Income for Tax?

A marketplace payout (from Shopee, Lazada or TikTok Shop) is usually the sale amount minus commission, transaction fees, shipping subsidies and voucher costs. Using only the payout understates both sales and expenses.

Recommended treatment

1. Record gross sales as revenue for each order, using the platform's order report.
2. Record each platform charge (commission, service or payment fees, ad spend, shipping the seller bears) as an expense.
3. Record refunds and returns as reductions of revenue.
4. Reconcile total gross sales, less these items, to the payouts received in the bank.

Example (illustrative).

• Customer pays RM100.
• Commission and fees: RM8.
• Shipping borne by the seller: RM5.
• Payout: RM87. Record RM100 as sales and RM13 as expenses.

Why LHDN cares. Under the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) e-Invoice rules (MyInvois), a platform that receives payment for a merchant issues a self-billed e-invoice recording the merchant's income from transactions on the platform, and it issues e-invoices for the charges it imposes on the merchant. Those platform documents can therefore be compared with the seller's books, and a mismatch is easier to explain if the gross and net figures are both recorded.

Timing. Platforms often release money after the buyer confirms receipt. The year in which the income is taxed follows the business's accounting basis, so keep the order date and the payout date for each item.