Before you start

Income arising from work in Vietnam
A ten-digit personal tax code (MST), normally registered by your employer
A determination of your residence status under the 183-day test
Records of any foreign income, if you are a tax resident

Step-by-step

1
Work out which side of 183 days you are on
You are a Vietnamese tax resident if you are present 183 days or more in a calendar year, or in any twelve consecutive months from the date of arrival, or if you maintain a permanent or leased home here for 183 days or more in the tax year. Anything else is non-resident. Count deliberately in your arrival and departure years.
OnlineWho: You
2
Get the ten-digit tax code registered
Foreigners keep a ten-digit MST. Circular 86/2024 moved Vietnamese citizens onto their twelve-digit personal identification number as their tax code from 1 July 2025, but foreigners without a Vietnamese ID stay on the MST — which matters because portals and forms increasingly assume the twelve-digit format. Your employer registers it within about ten days of your first taxable income and it is yours for life.
Via employerWho: Your employer and youWithin ~10 days of first payFree
3
Understand the 2026 rates before you budget
From the 2026 tax year the resident scale has five brackets rather than seven: 5% up to VND 10 million a month of taxable income, 10% to 30 million, 20% to 60 million, 30% to 100 million and 35% above that. The personal deduction rose to VND 15.5 million a month and the dependant deduction to VND 6.2 million. Non-residents remain on a flat 20% of Vietnam-sourced employment income.
OnlineWho: You
4
Register your dependants, because it is real money
Each registered dependant reduces monthly taxable income by VND 6.2 million from 2026. Spouses, children and supported parents can qualify on documented conditions. Registration is a paperwork exercise through your employer and needs supporting documents translated and legalised — which is why people put it off and then lose a year of relief.
Via employerWho: You
5
File the annual finalisation if you are a resident
Residents reconcile the year after it ends. Where the employer is authorised to finalise on your behalf the deadline is the last day of the third month after year-end; self-filers have until the last day of the fourth month, around 30 April. Non-residents do not finalise.
OnlineWho: You or your employerEnd of March or end of April
6
Get a tax clearance before you leave Vietnam
Departing residents are expected to finalise for the part-year and obtain confirmation of fulfilled obligations. Doing it after you have left, from another country, without a Vietnamese phone number or bank account, is genuinely difficult and is exactly what blocks a later remittance or a return on a new work permit.
In personWho: YouBefore departure

Documents you’ll need

Passport and temporary residence card
Ten-digit personal tax code (MST)
Labour contract and monthly payslips
Employer's annual withholding statement
Dependant documentation, translated and legalised
Records of foreign income and foreign tax paid, if resident

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 2026 reform changed the brackets and the deductions, so most guidance online is now wrong.

From the 2026 tax year the resident scale runs on five brackets instead of seven, the personal deduction rose from VND 11 million to VND 15.5 million a month and the dependant deduction from VND 4.4 to VND 6.2 million. A resident with one dependant now pays nothing until roughly VND 24 million a month. Any calculator or article written before 2026 will overstate your liability, sometimes substantially.

Source: 2026 Personal Income Tax reform

Residence pulls your foreign income into scope, and the treaty is the only thing that saves you.

Once you cross 183 days, Vietnam taxes worldwide income — foreign salary, rental income, investment income. Vietnam has a wide double taxation treaty network, but relief is claimed, not automatic, and requires a residence certificate and evidence of foreign tax paid. Someone keeping a rented-out flat at home usually finds out about this in the finalisation, a year late.

Source: PwC Vietnam

Foreigners kept the ten-digit tax code when Vietnamese citizens moved to their ID number.

Circular 86/2024 replaced the personal tax code with the twelve-digit citizen identification number from 1 July 2025 — for Vietnamese nationals. Foreigners without a Vietnamese ID continue on the ten-digit MST and cannot use the VNeID-based flows that citizens now use for tax. Expect forms and portals to assume twelve digits, and expect to explain it more than once.

Source: Circular 86/2024/TT-BTC

Departing without a tax clearance is the mistake that follows you back.

Leaving Vietnam mid-year without finalising the part-year and obtaining confirmation of settled obligations leaves an open file. It is a nuisance to resolve from abroad without a Vietnamese phone number, bank account or authorised representative, and it can surface later when you try to remit remaining funds or apply for a new work permit. Finalise before the flight, not after.

Source: General Department of Taxation

Common mistakes to avoid

Using a pre-2026 tax calculator and budgeting from the old seven-bracket scale.
Miscounting the 183 days in the arrival or departure year and applying the wrong regime.
Never registering dependants and losing VND 6.2 million a month of relief each.
Assuming monthly withholding settles everything — residents still finalise.
Leaving Vietnam without a tax clearance and finding it blocks a remittance or a return.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.