Proposal for two options to adjust the deduction level
The Ministry of Finance has just submitted a draft Resolution of the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) on adjusting the family deduction level in calculating personal income tax, applicable from the tax calculation period in 2026. This is one of the important contents to update tax policies in accordance with socio-economic fluctuations and people's lives.
According to the draft Resolution, the Ministry of Finance proposes two options to increase the family deduction level compared to the current level.
Option 1: The deduction for individuals who pay taxes is 13.3 million VND/month (equivalent to 159.6 million VND/year); the deduction for each dependent is 5.3 million VND/month. Compared to the current level, individuals will be increased and deducted 2.3 million VND/month, while dependents will increase by 0.9 million VND/month.
Option 2: The deduction for taxpayers is 15.5 million VND/month (186 million VND/year); each dependent is deducted 6.2 million VND/month. This adjustment is 4.5 million VND/month and 1.8 million VND/month respectively.
Both options are proposed to be applied from the 2026 tax calculation period, after the Resolution is approved by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and takes effect from the date of signing and promulgation.
Currently, according to the provisions of Resolution No. 954/2020/UBTVQH14, the family deduction for individuals is 11 million VND/month and for each dependent is 4.4 million VND/month. This level has been maintained since July 2020.
Many aspects to consider when determining the family deduction level
In the Submission to the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Ministry of Finance said that in the past, there were many different opinions on the current family deduction level. Some believe that the current level is low compared to fluctuations in prices and living standards. However, there are also opinions that the deduction is not necessarily low if placed in the context of the current income level, because in reality, many workers have income that has not reached the tax payment threshold.
There are opinions that the deduction should be calculated according to the regional minimum wage, or adjusted according to the region - for example, the deduction in a large city can be higher than in rural and mountainous areas due to different living costs. Some other opinions propose increasing tax rates for high-income people in large cities to regulate migration and immigration to these areas.
However, the Ministry of Finance believes that according to the principles of the Law on Personal Income Tax and international practices, the family deduction is a fixed level, applied uniformly nationwide, regardless of region or standard of living. The development of family deduction levels needs to ensure simplicity, ease of understanding, easy application and convenience in tax management.
The Ministry of Finance also emphasized that for individuals working in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, the Law on Personal Income Tax has stipulated the exclusion of subsidies such as regional subsidies, attraction subsidies, relocation subsidies, etc. from taxable income. This is a policy to support workers and encourage work in these areas.
At the National Assembly's question-and-answer session on June 19, 2025, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang said: "The Ministry of Finance is advising the Government to submit to the National Assembly Standing Committee to issue a Resolution to adjust the family deduction level of the Law on Personal Income Tax, to promptly support people, in line with macroeconomic fluctuations and current living standards".
This adjustment of the family deduction level is the next step after the most recent adjustment in 2020, contributing to perfecting the personal income tax policy, ensuring fairness, reasonableness and accurate reflection of people's income and expenditure.
