5 amounts of money transferred into personal accounts are subject to personal income tax
From July 1, 2025, people need to clearly understand the 5 types of income transferred into personal accounts that are subject to personal income tax (PIT).
Below are 5 main types of income that people need to pay attention to:
1. Salaries, wages and similar income
This is the most common type of income, including salary, bonuses, and allowances from an employer such as a company or organization.
These amounts are subject to personal income tax according to the progressive tax schedule, with the business responsible for withholding tax before payment. If you receive income from two or more sources, you must settle your taxes with the tax authorities at the end of the year.
All salary transactions through accounts are recorded by the tax authority for reconciliation.
2. Income from business activities
If you use your personal account to receive money from business, online sales, or providing services (such as design, consulting, writing), this income is subject to personal income tax and value added tax if the revenue exceeds VND 100 million/year.
Tax authorities may monitor accounts with large, frequent transactions to request tax declaration and payment.
3. Income from service provision, commission fees
Fees from brokerage, commissions, or money transfer/withdrawal services are all taxable.
In the case of "withdrawal on behalf of others", the principal amount is not taxable, but the service fee received will be subject to personal income tax.
4. Income from loan interest
When an individual lends money to an organization or company and receives interest, the interest is subject to personal income tax at a rate of 5%, deducted by the borrower before payment.
However, interest from lending between individuals (such as in rotating savings and credit associations) is currently not subject to tax.
5. Income from real estate transfer (in case of fraudulent declaration)
In principle, when selling a house or land, the seller must pay 2% personal income tax on the transfer price at the time of notarization.
If the actual amount received through the account matches the declared and taxed amount, this amount is not subject to additional tax. However, if there are signs of fraudulent declaration, the tax authority will review and apply additional tax.
9 Amounts not subject to personal income tax
In addition to taxable amounts, there are 9 cases where money transferred to personal accounts is tax-free, including:
- Personal and family transactions: Loans and gifts between relatives, friends, or spouses transferring living expenses.
- Taxed Salary: Salary after tax deductions are transferred to spouse or relatives.
- Remittances: Money sent home from relatives abroad.
- Collect on behalf - pay on behalf: Money collected from customers and then paid back to the company (like COD shipper).
- Money transfer/withdrawal service: Principal portion (taxable service fee only, if any).
- Bank loan maturity: Money received to pay off old loan and transferred immediately.
- Interest from personal loans: Interest between individuals (such as hui, ho).
- Tax paid on real estate sale: Proceeds from sale of house and land have been declared and tax paid in full.
- Salary from abroad: Salary that has been taxed abroad and then transferred to Vietnam.
Advice for people
To avoid legal and financial trouble, people should:
Use separate accounts for business and personal spending for transaction transparency.
Keep documents such as contracts, invoices, and power of attorney to prove the origin of money.
Be honest, especially with large transactions like real estate, to avoid legal risks.
