Are foreigners eligible for personal exemption in Vietnam?

Are foreigners eligible for personal exemption in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 1, Article 19 of the Personal Income Tax Law 2007, amended by Clause 4, Article 1 of the amended Personal Income Tax Law 2012, Clause 4, Article 6 of the 2014 Law amending the Laws on Taxation, and Article 1 of Resolution 954/2020/UBTVQH14 on personal exemption levels, the provisions are as follows:

personal exemption

1. personal exemption is the amount deducted from taxable income before calculating tax on income from wages and salaries of taxpayers being Vietnamese resident*. The personal exemption consists of the following two parts:*

a) A deduction level for taxpayers of 11 million VND/month (132 million VND/year);

b) A deduction level for each dependent of 4.4 million VND/month.

...

Thus, personal exemption is only applicable to income from wages and salaries of Vietnamese resident.

Income from wages and salaries in Vietnam of foreigners will be subject to personal exemption if the foreigner is a resident individual and will not be subject to personal exemption if the foreigner is a non-resident individual.

Are foreigners eligible for personal exemption in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are conditions to determine Vietnamese residents for personal income tax calculation?

The conditions for determining a resident individual for personal income tax are stipulated in Clause 1, Article 1 of Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC. Specifically, a personal income taxpayer is identified as a resident individual if they meet one of the following conditions:

First, present in Vietnam for 183 days or more within a calendar year or 12 consecutive months from the first day of presence in Vietnam, where the arrival and departure days count as one (01) day.

The arrival and departure days are based on the immigration authority’s verification on the individual's passport (or laissez-passer) upon entry and exit from Vietnam.

If entering and exiting on the same day, it is counted as one day of residence.

An individual present in Vietnam as guided in the first condition is their physical presence on Vietnamese territory.

Second, having regular accommodation in Vietnam under either of the following cases:

Case 1: Having regular accommodation as prescribed by residence law:

- For Vietnamese citizens: regular accommodation is where the individual lives regularly and stably without time limit at a certain residence and has registered permanent residence as prescribed by residence law.

- For foreigners: regular accommodation is the permanent residence recorded in the Permanent Resident Card or temporary residence when applying for a Temporary Residence Card issued by the competent authority under the Ministry of Public Security.

Case 2: Having a lease to live in Vietnam as prescribed by housing law, with leases having durations of 183 days or more in the tax year:

- Individuals who do or do not have regular accommodation under the guidance in Case 1 but have a total number of days renting living accommodations based on leases for 183 days or more in the tax year are also identified as Vietnamese resident, even if the residence is rented at multiple places.

- Leased residences include cases of staying at hotels, guesthouses, inns, residence at the workplace, office headquarters, etc., regardless of whether the individual rents it themselves or the employer rents it for the employee.

If an individual has regular accommodation in Vietnam as prescribed in this clause but is actually present in Vietnam for less than 183 days in the tax year and cannot prove residency in another country, they are considered resident in Vietnam.

Certification of being a resident in another country is based on a Residence Certificate. For individuals from countries or territories that have signed a Tax Agreement with Vietnam but do not issue Residence Certificates, a photocopy of the Passport proving residence time must be provided.

What are the personal income tax rates for Vietnamese resident and non-resident?

Pursuant to Article 14 of Decree 65/2013/ND-CP (content abolished by Clause 4, Article 6 of Decree 12/2015/ND-CP), personal income tax rates for Vietnamese resident and non-resident are specified as follows:

- For Vietnamese resident: personal income tax rates are applied according to the progressive tax rate schedule as follows:

- For Vietnamese non-resident: the personal income tax rate for income from salaries and wages arising in Vietnam is 20%.