What income can be calculated as salary, wage
On June 30, 2026, the Government issued Decree 253/2026/ND-CP detailing a number of articles and measures to organize and guide the implementation of the Personal Income Tax Law. This Decree takes effect from July 1, 2026.
A noteworthy point is the regulation on income from salaries and wages. According to point c, clause 2, Article 8 of Decree 253/2026/ND-CP, remuneration received from the provision of services by individuals who are not registered for business, not registered for tax for business activities, whether or not having a license or practicing certificate, is determined as income from salaries and wages.
According to this regulation, income from independent service provision activities such as affiliates, freelances, content creation, consulting, brokerage or other service remuneration can be determined as income from salaries and wages if the individual does not register for business or does not register for tax for business activities.
A point to note is that not all of this income is subject to a tax rate of 35%. This is the highest tax rate in the progressive tax schedule, applied to the taxable income at the highest level.
The highest tax rate is 35%
According to the progressive tax schedule in the Personal Income Tax Law, income from salaries and wages of resident individuals is calculated according to 5 tax brackets, with a tax rate of 5% to 35%.
The taxable income of up to 10 million VND/month applies a tax rate of 5%;
over 10-30 million VND/month applies a tax rate of 10%;
over 30-60 million VND/month applies a tax rate of 20%;
over 60-100 million VND/month applies a tax rate of 30%;
over 100 million VND/month applies a tax rate of 35%.
Thus, the 35% rate only applies to taxable income over 100 million VND/month, not the entire revenue or the entire personal income received.
Taxable income is also not synonymous with the total amount of money paid by the individual. For income from salaries and wages, the tax amount to be paid is determined after calculating deductions according to regulations, then applying a progressive tax schedule in parts.
In which cases is 10% deducted before receiving the money?
In addition to finalizing according to the progressive tax schedule in parts, individuals with income from remuneration and wages also need to pay attention to regulations on tax deduction at source.
According to Decree 253/2026/ND-CP, organizations and individuals paying salaries, wages, remuneration, and other expenses to resident individuals who do not sign labor contracts or sign labor contracts for less than 3 months, if the payment level is from 5 million VND/time or more, they must deduct tax at a rate of 10% on income before paying to individuals.
In case the payment level is below 5 million VND/time, organizations and individuals paying income are entitled to a 10% tax deduction when individuals request it.
If an individual only has income subject to 10% deduction but estimates that the total taxable income after family deduction is not yet at the level to be taxed, the individual can make a commitment to send it to the income-paying organization to temporarily not be deducted personal income tax.
