According to Article 4 of the Law on Personal Income Tax 2007 (amended and supplemented in 2014), income from wages is currently exempt from personal income tax, including:
- The salary for working at night and working overtime is paid higher than the salary for working during the day and working within the hours prescribed by law.
- Income from salary and wages of Vietnamese crew members working for foreign shipping lines or Vietnamese shipping lines conducting international transportation.
However, according to Clause 3, Article 71 of the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation 2025, from October 1, 2025, personal income tax will be exempted from income from salaries and wages from performing scientific, technological and innovation tasks.
In addition, Clause 3, Article 49 of the Law on Technology Industry No. 2025 (effective from January 1, 2026) also adds the income from wages exempted from personal income tax as follows:
3. Add Clause 17 after Clause 16, Article 4 of the Law on Personal Income Tax No. 04/2007/QH12, which has been amended and supplemented by Law No. 26/2012/QH13, Law No. 71/2014/QH13, Law No. 31/2024/QH15, Law No. 48/2024/QH15 and Law No. 56/2024/QH15 as follows:
17. Income including salary and wages of high-quality digital technology industrial human resources are income exempt from personal income tax for 05 years from the date of signing the first contract with Vietnamese agencies, organizations and individuals in the following cases:
a) Income from digital technology industrial activities in concentrated digital technology parks;
b) Income from research and development projects, production of key digital technology products, semiconductor chips, and artificial intelligence systems;
c) Income from training activities for human resources in the digital technology industry".
Thus, according to the above regulations, the income includes salary and wages of high-quality digital technology industrial human resources, which are personal income tax-free for a period of 05 years from the date of signing the first contract with Vietnamese agencies, organizations and individuals in the following cases: Income from digital technology industrial activities in the concentrated digital technology zone; income from research and development projects, production of key digital technology products, semiconductor chips, artificial intelligence systems; income from training activities of digital technology industrial human resources will be exempted from personal income tax from January 1, 2026.
