Filing tax in Vietnam as an Australian

Short answer: if you're a Vietnamese tax resident on a salary, your employer withholds tax monthly, but someone still has to finalise the year by 30 April, and you need the paperwork from that to avoid being taxed twice by the ATO.

The short version

You're a Vietnamese tax resident if you're in Vietnam for 183 days or more in a calendar year or in any 12 consecutive months from arrival, or if you have a permanent residence or qualifying lease [1].
Residents with salary income finalise once a year, either through their employer (by 31 March) or themselves (by 30 April) [1].
Leaving for good before year end? Finalise within 45 days of departure, or authorise your employer to do it [1].
The Australia–Vietnam tax treaty has applied since 10 December 1992. It decides which country taxes your salary first and gives a credit for tax paid in the other [2][3].
If you stay an Australian tax resident, you declare your Vietnamese salary to the ATO and claim a foreign income tax offset for the Vietnamese tax [4][5].

This guide is about the process. For the 2026 rates, brackets and deductions, see our guide to working and doing business in Vietnam.

Are you a Vietnamese tax resident?

Vietnam's personal income tax (PIT, or thuế thu nhập cá nhân) has a simpler residency test than Australia's. You're resident if any one of these is true [1]:

Test	What it means
183 days in a calendar year	Count days physically in Vietnam between 1 January and 31 December
183 days in 12 months from arrival	A rolling 12 months starting the day you first arrive
Permanent residence	A registered permanent residence in Vietnam
Leased home	A rental contract for a home in Vietnam of a qualifying term

Why it matters: residents are taxed on worldwide employment income at the progressive rates, while non-residents pay a flat 20% on Vietnam-sourced employment income only [1]. Most Australians who move to Saigon on a contract become residents in their first year.

The Australian side is different

Australia uses the financial year (1 July to 30 June), not the calendar year, and its tests are about where you really live: the resides test, the domicile test, the 183-day test and a test for Commonwealth super members [4]. You can be a tax resident of both countries at once. That's where the treaty comes in.

The tax code and monthly withholding

Every individual who pays PIT needs a tax identification number, the mã số thuế [1]. Your employer normally registers it for you when you start. Ask HR for the number in writing, because you'll need it for finalisation, for registering dependants and for anything you file yourself.

Each month your employer withholds PIT from your pay and sends it to the tax authority [1]. Dependant deductions aren't automatic: each dependant must be registered with the tax authority, and only one taxpayer can claim them [1]. If you have a partner or kids with you, register them early in the year so the deduction flows through the monthly payroll rather than waiting for a refund.

If any of your pay comes from overseas, for example a portion paid by an Australian parent company into your Australian account, it's still part of your Vietnamese income if you're resident. Make sure it's declared. Your employer or a tax adviser can tell you whether you need to file anything for that portion yourself.

Finalisation: the annual job

Vietnam's tax year is the calendar year. After it ends, residents with salary income must finalise: total up the year's income, apply deductions and the full-year rates, then pay the shortfall or claim a refund [1].

Two ways to finalise

Route	Who it suits	Deadline
Authorise your employer	One employer for the whole year, no other income	Employer files by the last day of the third month, in practice 31 March [1]
File yourself	Two or more employers, income from elsewhere, or arriving mid-year	Last day of the fourth month, in practice 30 April [1]

If a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next working day [1]. For income earned in 2026, that means finalising in the first months of 2027. The 2025 year was finalised under the old seven-bracket scale and the old deductions [1].

You don't have to finalise if the extra tax after withholding is VND 50,000 or less, or if you're owed a refund and choose not to claim it [1].

Filing it yourself, step by step

Get a withholding certificate from every employer you had in the year [1].
Collect proof of anything paid offshore, plus foreign tax paid on it, converted to dong at the State Bank of Vietnam's average interbank rate when the income arose [1].
Check your dependant registrations are in place for the year.
Complete the finalisation declaration through the tax authority's online portal or eTax app, or ask a licensed tax agent to file for you.
Pay any balance or request your refund to a Vietnamese bank account.
Keep a copy of everything. The ATO will want evidence of the Vietnamese tax you paid.

Vietnam Briefing notes that the tax authorities look closely at foreign employees' finalisations, and that complete documents help avoid refund delays [1]. Don't expect a refund in a few weeks like an Australian myTax return.

Leaving Vietnam

If your assignment ends before 31 December, you must finalise within 45 days of departure, or authorise your employer to do it [1]. Don't skip it. Vietnam Briefing warns that non-compliance can complicate future re-entry, delay refunds and leave gaps in the records you need to claim a foreign tax credit at home [1].

Smartraveller also warns that Vietnam can impose exit bans over disputes and unpaid debts, and that your passport may be held until a matter is settled [6]. Unpaid tax is exactly the kind of thing you don't want hanging over you at the airport. Close your tax position, get your final documents, and only then close your Vietnamese bank account.

The Australia–Vietnam tax treaty

The full name is the Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income. It was signed in Canberra on 13 April 1992 and entered into force on 10 December 1992, with later amendments in 1996 and 2002 [2].

Who taxes your salary

Article 15 deals with employment income. Your salary is taxed where you do the work [3]. So if you work in Saigon, Vietnam has the first right to tax that pay. The short-stay exception only applies if all of these are true: you're in Vietnam no more than 183 days in the year, your employer isn't a Vietnamese resident, the pay isn't borne by a Vietnamese branch, and the income is taxed in Australia [3]. Someone on a local contract almost never fits that.

If both countries say you're resident

Article 4 has a tie-breaker. First it asks where you have a permanent home available. If you have one in both or neither, it looks at which country your economic and personal relations are closer to [3]. Keeping your house in Brisbane while renting in Thao Dien can therefore matter.

How double tax is removed

Article 23 says Australia gives a credit for Vietnamese tax paid under the treaty, and Vietnam gives a credit for Australian tax on income Australia is allowed to tax [3]. Pensions and annuities are generally taxed only where you're resident (Article 18) [3].

What the ATO wants from you

If you stay an Australian tax resident, you must declare your Vietnamese salary in your Australian return and can claim the foreign income tax offset (FITO) for the Vietnamese tax [5]. It's non-refundable: it reduces the Australian tax on that income but won't create a refund on its own [5].

A few practical points:

Convert to Australian dollars using the ATO's foreign income conversion calculator or an accepted rate [5].
Match the years. Vietnam's calendar year straddles two Australian financial years, so you'll need month-by-month payslips to split income and tax correctly.
Above A$1,000 in foreign tax, you either work out your full offset using the ATO's guide or claim just A$1,000. Claim only A$1,000 and you lose the rest for that year [5].

If you become a non-resident for Australian tax, foreign-source income no longer goes in your Australian return from the date you leave, and Australian interest, dividends and royalties are covered by final withholding tax instead [4]. If you have a HELP debt, you may still need to report worldwide income [4].

Getting a Vietnamese tax residency certificate

Sometimes you need proof that you're a Vietnamese tax resident, for example to claim treaty relief on Australian-source income or to show the ATO why you're no longer resident. Vietnam issues a certificate of residence: you apply on Form 06/HTQT to the tax office where you're registered, and it's considered within seven working days of a complete application [7]. A licensed adviser can lodge it for you with a power of attorney [7].

If you're working through any of this for the first time, compare notes with people who've done it. Join Cooee Vietnam, our Facebook group for Australians in Vietnam.

Filing tax in Vietnam: residency, the April finalisation and the Australian treaty