Why is there no 30th day of the 2025 Tet holiday of Vietnam? What if the deadline for personal income tax returns is the 30th day of the 2025 Tet holiday of Vietnam?

Why is there no 30th day of the 2025 Tet holiday of Vietnam?

In the lunar calendar system, there isn't always a 30th day of the last month for the Tet holiday. The year 2025 presents a special case where the 30th day of Tet does not appear, leaving many people wondering about the reason and asking: "Why is there no 30th day of Tet in 2025? How long until this day appears again?"

The reason lies in the adjustments of the lunar calendar. Sometimes, the last month (Lunar December) may lack the 30th day, concluding instead on the 28th or 29th. This occurs when the month is a "short month." A similar situation occurred in 2021 when we celebrated New Year’s Eve on the 29th day of Tet.

According to astronomy, the lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. An important principle is ensuring that the Earth, Moon, and Sun are aligned, and the first day of each lunar month must coincide with the day when the Moon is not visible (new moon).

However, the cycle from a full moon to a new moon is approximately 29.53 days. Therefore, the number of days in each lunar month needs to be rounded to the nearest whole number, resulting in the phenomenon of short and long months.

Thus, from 2024 onwards, we will only celebrate New Year’s Eve on the 29th day of Tet, and must wait until 2033 to have the 30th day of Tet again.

Hence, we will not celebrate Tet on the 30th of December for another 9 years.

Note: Information about why there is no 30th day of the Tet holiday in 2025 is for reference only!

What if the deadline for personal income tax returns is the 30th day of the 2025 Tet holiday of Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 1 of Decree 91/2022/ND-CP, amending Decree 126/2020/ND-CP, the regulation is as follows:

Addition of Article 6a as follows:

“Article 6a. Deadline Conclusion

The deadline for tax return submissions, tax payment deadlines, deadlines for tax authority handling, and the enforcement of decisions related to tax management follows the regulations in the Tax Administration Law and this Decree. In the event that the last day of these deadlines coincides with a public holiday, the final deadline will be the next working day following the holiday.

Thus if the deadline for submitting personal income tax returns coincides with the 30th day of the Tet holiday in 2025, the last day of submission will be considered as the next working day following the holiday.

What are the penalties for late submission of personal income tax returns in Vietnam?

According to Article 13 of Decree 125/2020/ND-CP, regulations on penalties for violations of tax return submission deadlines are as follows:

- Warning for late submissions from 1 to 5 days with mitigating circumstances.

- Fines ranging from VND 2,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 for late submissions from 1 to 30 days, except cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

- Fines ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 8,000,000 for late submissions from 31 to 60 days.

- Fines ranging from VND 8,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 for any of the following actions:

+ Late submissions from 61 to 90 days;

+ Late submissions from over 90 days without any payable tax amount;

+ Non-submission of tax returns without any payable tax amount;

+ Non-submission of required annexes regarding tax management for enterprises with related-party transactions included in corporate income tax finalization returns.

- Fines ranging from VND 15,000,000 to VND 25,000,000 for late submissions exceeding 90 days after the due date, if there is payable tax and the taxpayer has paid the full tax amount and associated late fees into the state budget before the tax authority announces tax audits or inspections or before recording the delay as per Clause 11, Article 143 of the Tax Administration Law.

Note: These fines apply to organizations. Individual penalties are half of the organizational penalty.

Which incomes are exempt from personal income tax?

According to Article 4 of the Personal Income Tax Law 2007, amended by Clause 2, Article 1 of the Amended Personal Income Tax Law 2012, the following personal incomes are exempt from tax:

- Income from the transfer of real estate between spouses; biological parents and children; adoptive parents and children; parents-in-law and daughter-in-law; parents-in-law and son-in-law; paternal grandparents and grandchildren; maternal grandparents and grandchildren; siblings.

- Income from the transfer of residential houses, homestead land use rights and assets attached to homestead land of individuals, where the individual has only one residential house or homestead land.

- Income from the value of land use rights allocated by the State to individuals.

- Income from inheritances, gifts as real estate between spouses; biological parents and children; adoptive parents and children; parents-in-law and daughter-in-law; parents-in-law and son-in-law; paternal grandparents and grandchildren; maternal grandparents and grandchildren; siblings.

- Income from the direct production of agriculture, forestry, salt-making, aquaculture by families and individuals that have not been processed into other products or only undergone preliminary processing.

- Income from agricultural land conversion allocated by the State for production to families and individuals.

- Income from interest on deposits at credit institutions or from life insurance contracts.

- Income from remittances.

- The portion of night-shift wages, overtime wages paid higher than the day shift wages according to law.

- Retirement pensions paid by the Social Insurance Fund; monthly pensions paid by voluntary pension funds.

- Income from scholarships, including:

+ Scholarships from the state budget;

+ Scholarships from domestic and foreign organizations under educational support programs.

- Income from life and non-life insurance indemnities, compensation for labor accidents, state compensation, and other compensation as regulated by law.

- Income from charitable funds established or recognized by competent state agencies intended for charitable or humanitarian purposes, and not for profit.

- Income from foreign aid for charitable, humanitarian purposes in governmental and non-governmental forms approved by competent state agencies.

- Income from salary and wages of Vietnamese crew members working for foreign shipping lines or Vietnamese shipping lines operating international transport.

- Income of individuals who own ships, are entitled to use ships, and individuals working on ships, from providing goods and services directly supporting offshore fishing activities.