In Resolution 278 dated September 13, 2025 on law-making in September, the Government gave opinions on the draft Law on Personal Income Tax (amended), which requires clear regulation on income from taxable gold trading activities, in order to improve market transparency and limit speculation. The Ministry of Finance is assigned to coordinate with the State Bank to agree on this content in the draft.
Speaking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tu - former Editor-in-Chief of Tax Magazine, lecturer at Hanoi University of Business and Technology - said that current policies, especially the Law on Value Added Tax, the Law on Corporate Income Tax and the Law on Personal Income Tax, have clearly stipulated: All organizations and individuals with income must pay taxes, regardless of the source.
For gold trading, previously the legal document only regulated gold trading enterprises, not clearly mentioning individuals doing retail transactions.
He emphasized: The Government has given timely instructions and there is no need to issue new ones, because the law already exists, only instructions are needed for immediate implementation, there is no need to wait for the Law on Personal Income Tax to be amended. If we wait, it will not take effect until mid-2026, it is too late. Meanwhile, it is completely possible to implement it immediately with a decree or guiding circular".
According to Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tu, in the market, gold is in the 4 main investment and business channels of the people along with goods and services, real estate and stocks. While the other three channels have paid taxes stably, the individual's gold channel has not yet. This creates inequality, both causing budget losses and encouraging speculation, causing the market to be distorted and domestic gold prices to not be related to world prices. Therefore, including individual gold transactions under taxation is necessary, both ensuring fairness and enhancing market transparency.
He analyzed: In fact, the world gold price has increased, but even when including taxes, fees and profits, the highest rate is only about 115 million VND/tael. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, gold bars are sometimes sold for nearly 140 million VND/tael, 20 million VND higher than the world. This is a manifestation of speculation and price manipulation.
The difference between domestic buying and selling prices is also too big, sometimes buying at 128 million VND/tael but selling at only 123124 million VND, a difference of several million VND per day. Gold prices fluctuated erratically, not following international developments. Normally, the reasonable difference is only about 35 million VND/tael; the difference of up to 1020 million VND is unreasonable.
Previously, when the State Bank intervened to stabilize, domestic prices immediately decreased, showing interconnection. But then prices increased sharply, reflecting speculation. An important reason is that no tax has been imposed on gold transactions. If taxes are applied, speculative behavior will change, forcing participants to calculate carefully, making it no longer easy to surf as before, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tu affirmed.
