What Form TP3 Actually Does<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Form TP3 is the document a new joiner submits to their new employer, declaring income earned and PCB already deducted at their previous employer within the same tax year. It operates under the Income Tax (Deduction from Remuneration) Rules 1994, the same rules that authorise the monthly PCB system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the new employer receives a completed TP3, the payroll team uses the figures to calculate the new joiner’s PCB on a year-to-date basis<\/strong>, not a fresh-start basis. The result is that the monthly PCB deducted from the new joiner’s salary reflects their actual total income for the year, not just the income earned from the date they joined.<\/p>\n<\/div> The form is short. It captures the previous employer’s name, the period of employment, total income paid, EPF deducted, PCB deducted, and any approved deductions. It is meant to be submitted by the new employee in their first month at the new company, supported by the previous employer’s pay records or EA form if available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new employer’s payroll system has no choice but to treat the new joiner as if they were starting their tax year from zero. PCB is calculated against the projected annual income from the joining month forward, which is a fraction of the employee’s actual annual income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This always under-deducts. Often significantly. An employee who switched jobs in July at a similar salary will have earned roughly twice the income the new employer’s payroll system thinks they have. The PCB tables and brackets the new employer applies are for a lower income range, and the monthly deduction is smaller than it should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shortfall accumulates silently across the remaining months of the year. By the time Form EA is generated in February of the following year, the gap surfaces. The employee’s annual tax computation finds the actual total income (across both employers), applies the correct tax bracket, and arrives at a final tax liability that is higher than the sum of all the monthly PCB deductions. The difference is the tax bill the employee discovers on MyTax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For employees, TP3 sits in a knowledge gap that most onboarding processes do not close. New hires receive forms about the new job (contract, statutory registrations, bank details) and forms about the old job’s exit (resignation letter, exit interview). The form that connects the two, from a tax perspective, is rarely volunteered by either side. The previous employer’s HR team has already issued the leaver paperwork; the new employer’s HR team is focused on getting the new hire set up to receive their first salary. TP3 lives between the two and gets missed by both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For employers, the missing TP3 is not a compliance breach. The new employer is allowed to calculate PCB without the previous employer’s data; the under-deduction becomes the employee’s own problem at year-end. The system works without TP3. It just works at a cost the employee absorbs alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why most companies have never updated their onboarding pack to include a TP3 request, and most employees have never been asked for one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.timeteccloud.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/diverse-team-people-brainstorming-ideas-create-business-growth-collaborating-with-man-with-physical-impairment-woman-talking-male-employee-wheelchair-about-strategy-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat Happens When TP3 Is Not Submitted<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why Both Sides Miss It<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Where a Connected Payroll System Closes the Gap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.timeteccloud.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/web-ui-payroll.png\")
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