Happy to be tax-free, worried about procedures
Having just signed a rental contract starting from October 2025, Mr. Nguyen Van T (Lam Dong) is wondering about his tax obligations.
Accordingly, the rental contract lasts for 2 years, with a rental price of 18 million VND/month. In 2025, because it was only leased since October, Mr. T's actual total revenue was only 54 million VND (18 million VND x 3 months).
According to research, Mr. T knew that if his income was below VND100 million/year, he would not have to pay taxes. However, what worries him is whether "not having to pay" means "not having to do anything" or not? If the tax declaration is not submitted, will it be considered a violation of the law?
answers questions
To answer this question, representatives of the 6 Lam Dong Provinces' Grassroots Tax Department gave specific instructions based on Circular 40/2021/TT-BTC and Circular 100/2021/TT-BTC.
Regarding financial obligations, the tax authority confirmed that Mr. Tam's case is subject to tax exemption. Pursuant to Point c, Clause 1, Article 9 of Circular 40/2021/TT-BTC (amended by Circular 100/2021/TT-BTC), individuals who rent assets for a non- full year, if their revenue is from 100 million VND or less, do not have to pay VAT and personal income tax. With a revenue of 54 million VND in 2025, Mr. Tam is completely assured that he will not have to pay taxes on a large scale.
However, regarding administrative procedures, the tax authority emphasized: Declaration is still required.
According to regulations, business households and individuals are responsible for declaring taxes accurately, honestly, fully and submitting documents on time. Although the tax payable is 0 VND, declaration is still a mandatory procedure for tax authorities to manage subjects and revenue. If this step is ignored, people may be administratively sanctioned for late payment or failure to submit tax declarations.
Documents and deadlines to remember to avoid being fined
To comply with regulations, landlords need to prepare a tax declaration dossier including: Tax declaration for property lease activities (Form 01/TTS); Appendix to the contract detailed statement; copy of the lease contract and copy of the authorization letter (if any).
Regarding the deadline, people have two options:
If declaring according to each payment period arising: No later than the 10th day from the date of lease date of the payment period.
If declared once a year: No later than the last day of the first month of the following calendar year.
Thus, the legal risk problem lies in the fact that people often combine tax exemption with procedure exemption. To avoid unnecessary problems, homeowners with low incomes still need to do a small move of submitting a complete tax declaration to the authorities.
