Proposal to allow adjustment according to price and income fluctuations
Information from the Ministry of Finance said that according to the 10th session of the 15th National Assembly, on the morning of November 4, 2025, the Draft Law on personal income tax (amended) was submitted by the Government to the National Assembly. The draft Law on personal income tax (amended) is expected to amend and supplement all 35 Articles of the current Law and will replace the current Law on personal income tax.
The amended content is from taxable income; tax-exempt income; tax reduction; tax for business individuals; family deduction for taxpayers and dependents; deduction for charitable and humanitarian contributions; Programmed tax rate in part; to the payable level of some non-regular income.
Previously, on October 17, 2025, the National Assembly Standing Committee issued Resolution No. 110/2025/UBTVQH15 on adjusting the family deduction of personal income tax, accordingly, adjusting the deduction for taxpayers from 11 million VND/month to 15.5 million VND/month, adjusting the deduction for each dependent from 4.4 million VND/month to 6.2 million VND/month.
According to the calculation of the Ministry of Finance, with this new family deduction, individuals (if there are no dependents) with an income of 17 million VND/month still have not to pay taxes. In case the individual has 01 dependent with an income of 24 million VND/month, this person still does not have to pay tax. In case the individual has 02 dependents with an income of 31 million VND/month, this person still has not to pay tax.
The draft Law on personal income tax (amended) amends the principle to adjust the family deduction level. According to the current Law on personal income tax, the National Assembly Standing Committee is assigned to adjust the family deduction level when the CPI fluctuates over 20%.
However, the adjustment principle when the CPI fluctuates above 20% in the current Law on personal income tax will no longer be consistent with the fluctuation of prices and income. In reality, it is about 5 years until the CPI increases to over 20% before adjusting the family deduction, while the factors of cost, price, and income of the people have many fluctuations. Therefore, it is possible to base on these factors to adjust the family deduction level without waiting for the CPI to fluctuate over 20%.
Accordingly, the draft Law stipulates that the Government is assigned to adjust the deduction level based on price and income fluctuations to suit practical requirements.
Adjusting according to CPI is reasonable, there needs to be an annual automatic adjustment mechanism
Regarding personal income tax policy, according to Ms. Le Yen - Director of Hanoi Tax Consulting Company (Hanoi Tax), increasing the family deduction to 15.5 million VND/month is timely and in line with the current economic context. This is very necessary for the next 1-3 years, she said.
Assessing the possibility of adjusting the annual automatic family deduction or average income, Ms. Le Yen said that it is necessary to be cautious: The automatic adjustment mechanism is reasonable but must be flexible. If changes continue, it will make it difficult to implement and guide the work".
Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy - CEO of the Faculty of Finance - Banking, Nguyen Trai University - assessed the proposal to increase the family deduction level as a reasonable step forward. "In big cities, actual costs for education, healthcare, housing, energy... in urban areas all increased more strongly than CPI due to high core inflation, but the increase of 15.5 million VND has not kept up with this growth rate," Mr. Huy commented.
Mr. Huy emphasized the need to link the adjustment of the deduction level with the consumer price index (CPI) and national trungential income, while allowing annual automatic adjustments, instead of waiting for the law to be amended.
Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tu - Lecturer at Hanoi University of Business and Technology - also said that the regulation on family deduction based on the consumer price index (CPI) with an adjustment threshold when the CPI increases above 20% does not fully reflect the standard of living of workers.
"The CPI includes more than 700 items, while workers often only consume some essential groups of goods such as food, food, electricity, water. Therefore, adjusting the family deduction level needs to consider this factor to ensure it is suitable for practice" - Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tu assessed.
