Do persons under 18 have to pay personal income tax in Vietnam?

Do persons under 18 have to pay personal income tax in Vietnam?

Based on the provisions of Article 2 of the Personal Income Tax Law 2007 regarding subjects liable to personal income tax, which include:

(1) Subjects liable to personal income tax are resident individuals with taxable income specified in Article 3 of this Law arising both inside and outside the territory of Vietnam and non-resident individuals with taxable income specified in Article 3 of this Law arising within the territory of Vietnam.

(2) A resident individual is someone who meets one of the following conditions:

- Present in Vietnam for 183 days or more within a calendar year or within 12 consecutive months from the first day of arrival in Vietnam;

- Has a regular place of residence in Vietnam, which includes a registered permanent residence or a rented house in Vietnam as per a lease contract.

(3) A non-resident individual is someone who does not meet the conditions specified in item (2).

It is evident that the law currently does not set an age limit for tax liability. Consequently, individuals under 18 with taxable personal income must pay taxes in full, according to the law.

Do persons under 18 have to pay personal income tax in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What income from wages and salaries is subject to personal income tax in Vietnam?

Based on the provisions in clause 2, Article 3 of the Personal Income Tax Law 2007, as amended by clause 1, Article 1 of the Amended Personal Income Tax Law 2012 regarding income from wages and salaries subject to personal income tax as follows:

(1) Wages, salaries, and other amounts of a wage or salary nature;

(2) Allowances and subsidies, excluding:

- Allowances and subsidies prescribed by law for people with meritorious services;

- National defense, security allowances;

- Hazardous or dangerous allowances for sectors or occupations at workplaces with hazardous conditions;

- Attraction allowances, regional allowances as prescribed by law;

- Sudden hardship allowances, labor accident and occupational disease allowances, one-off childbirth or adoption allowances, allowances for reduced labor capability, single pension allowances, monthly survivor benefits, and other allowances as prescribed by social insurance laws;

- Severance pay, job loss allowances as prescribed by the Labor Code;

- Social protection allowances and other allowances and subsidies that do not have the nature of wages or salaries as prescribed by the Government of Vietnam.

Vietnam: Can persons under 18 independently sign employment contracts?

Based on the provisions of Article 18 of the Labor Code 2019 regarding the authority to conclude employment contracts as follows:

Authority to conclude employment contracts

1. Employees directly conclude employment contracts, except as prescribed in clause 2 of this Article.

2. For seasonal work or specific work with a term of less than 12 months, a group of employees aged 18 or older may authorize one employee in the group to conclude the employment contract; in this case, the employment contract must be made in writing and is effective as if concluded with each employee.

The employment contract signed by the authorized person must be accompanied by a list specifying the full name, date of birth, gender, residence, and signature of each employee.

3. The person concluding the employment contract on the employer's side is a person who falls into one of the following cases:

a) The legal representative of the enterprise or a person authorized according to the law;

b) The head of an agency or organization with legal status or a person authorized according to the law;

c) The representative of a household, cooperative, or other organization without legal status or a person authorized according to the law;

d) An individual directly employing labor.

4. The person concluding the employment contract on the employee's side is a person who falls into one of the following cases:

a) The employee aged 18 or older;

b) The employee aged from 15 to under 18 years with written consent from their legal representative;

c) The person under 15 years of age and their legal representative;

d) The employee authorized by their legal labor group to conclude the employment contract.

5. The person authorized to conclude the employment contract must not delegate this authorization to another person to conclude the employment contract.

Based on this regulation, the person concluding the employment contract on the employee's side falls into one of the following categories:

- Employees aged 18 or older;

- Employees aged from 15 to under 18 years with written consent from their legal representative;

- Individuals under 15 years and their legal representative;

- Employees authorized by their labor group to conclude the employment contract.

Thus, it can be observed that employees under 18 can independently conclude employment contracts but must have written consent from their legal representative, and in the case of individuals under 15, the contract conclusion must involve their legal representative.