At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Finance for the third quarter of 2025 on October 3, Mr. Luu Duc Huy, Deputy Director of the Department of Tax, Fee and Charge Policy Management and Supervision (Ministry of Finance) said that according to current regulations, gold trading activities are applying VAT by direct method and corporate income tax has also had specific regulations.
Regarding personal income tax, the Ministry of Finance is drafting a document for the Government to consider: "We propose applying a tax on gold bar transfer transactions at 0.1%/transaction, not applicable to gold jewelry".
In addition, the Ministry of Finance is also finalizing regulations related to export tax on gold jewelry and fine arts. According to the orientation, artisanal gold products will be subject to export tax, while raw gold for production is still considered according to a separate mechanism. The dossier has been consulted with Government members and will be issued in the near future.
Previously, in Resolution 278 dated September 13 on law-making in September, the Government gave opinions on the draft Law on Personal Income Tax (amended). Accordingly, the Government 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.
Regarding this content, tax experts have also proposed the collection/transaction rate. According to Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tu - former Editor-in-Chief of Tax Magazine, lecturer at Hanoi University of Business and Technology, the reasonable way is to calculate tax based on revenue, that is, each time they are sold, they pay a certain percentage.
"Initially, a level of 1 - 1.5%/transaction can be applied. For example, selling a quantity of gold for 128 million VND, if the tax rate is 1.5%, the tax must be paid about 1.9 million VND, regardless of profit or loss. Like real estate, every time I sell it, I will have to pay taxes," said Mr. Tu.
According to the analysis, this calculation method forces gold buyers to consider carefully before trading. If I bought it for 131 million VND, the next day I needed money to sell it immediately, it was only 128 million VND, and I lost 3 million. Additional tax of 1.5% (nearly 2 million), total loss of about 5 million VND. At that time, short-term speculative engines will decrease, the market will be less stressed about supply and demand, and prices will also be stable, said Dr. Tu.
