Make sense of your Vietnam taxes.

You are considered a tax resident in Vietnam if you meet either of the following conditions: (1) You are present in Vietnam for 183 days or more within a calendar year, or within 12 consecutive months starting from your first arrival date; or (2) You have a regular residence in Vietnam, which includes having a registered permanent residence or a rented house with a lease of 183 days or more. Tax residents are subject to progressive tax rates on their worldwide income.

From the 2026 tax year: (1) Personal deduction: 15,500,000 VND per month (186,000,000 VND per year); (2) Dependant deduction: 6,200,000 VND per month per registered dependant. A dependant's average income may not exceed 3,000,000 VND per month. For the 2025 tax year the amounts were 11,000,000 VND and 4,400,000 VND per month, with a 1,000,000 VND dependant income ceiling. Qualifying dependants include children under 18, older children in school or unable to work, and a spouse, parents or other relatives you support who meet the income and working-capacity conditions. Each dependant can be claimed by only one taxpayer.

Withholding does not always remove the need for annual finalization. In some defined cases, an eligible employee can authorize the employer to finalize on their behalf. Whether that applies depends on the employment relationship at filing, side income, withholding, and other conditions. If you have multiple income sources, changed employers, left before filing, have foreign income, or seek a refund, review the direct-filing rules for your circumstances.

Yes. A resident foreigner whose labour contract in Vietnam ends must file a PIT finalization before exit, and no later than 45 days after the contract ends. You will need: (1) Form 02/QTT-TNCN; (2) Tax withholding certificates from every employer; (3) Documents supporting your deductions; and (4) Passport copies with entry and exit stamps.

Yes, in most cases. Foreign employees with a work permit (or exemption) and a labour contract of 12 months or more must join compulsory social insurance, with some exceptions such as intra-company transferees and people at retirement age. The employee pays 9.5% of the contribution salary: 8% social insurance and 1.5% health insurance. Foreigners do not pay unemployment insurance. The employer pays 20.5%. Contributions are capped at 20 times the base salary, which is VND 50,600,000 per month from 1 July 2026. Citizens of countries with a bilateral social insurance agreement with Vietnam may be exempt from some contributions.