# Vietnam

 Country code: VN · Currency: VND · Language: Vietnamese

**Pros**
- Low corporate tax rates and numerous tax incentives for foreign direct investment in tech sectors.
- High level of personal safety and low violent crime rates for expatriates and business owners.
- Rapidly improving digital infrastructure and a young, tech-savvy workforce at competitive labor costs.

**Cons**
- Pervasive corruption and lack of transparency in administrative procedures and local government dealings.
- Strict state control over digital expression and limited political freedoms under a single-party system.
- Complex bureaucratic hurdles and inconsistent enforcement of property rights and legal contracts.

Long story short: Setting up a company looks simple on paper, but you will be wrestling with a labyrinthine administration and slipping a few discreet envelopes to get stubborn stamps moving.

On the flip side, taxes stay reasonable and the economy is roaring along on the back of a hungry, young workforce. The real headache: getting your profits out of the country takes patience, since capital controls keep money locked in.

Beyond that: infrastructure that's catching up fast, next to zero street crime in the upscale districts of Hanoi or Saigon, phenomenal street food, and landscapes worth the trip on their own.

## Will your income be taxed?

Long story short: YES, A LOT.
Income gets *fleeced* in **Vietnam** (top marginal rate **35%**), but the residency test is surprisingly hands-off.

The bill is brutal for residents; the whole game is simply not to become one by accident.

**01.1 Income tax**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Personal income tax | 5 → 35% | progressive · 5 brackets |

| Bracket (USD) | Rate |
| --- | --- |
| 0 – 4,560 | 5% |
| 4,560 – 13,680 | 10% |
| 13,680 – 27,360 | 20% |
| 27,360 – 45,600 | 30% |
| 45,600 + | 35% |

**01.2 Tax residence test**

_A single active rule is enough to make you tax-resident._

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 183-day rule | exists here |  |
| Economic interest | does not exist here |  |
| Family centre | does not exist here |  |
| Habitual abode | exists here |  |
| Extended-stay test | does not exist here |  |

## Will your wealth be taxed?

Long story short: YES, FAIRLY.
Capital gains in **Vietnam** cost **20%** on disposal, with no annual wealth levy. But *inheritance* comes back for seconds when assets pass down.

Same money, two tollbooths: the sale, then the succession.

**02.1 Investment income**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capital gains | 20% | flat |
| Dividend tax | 5% | flat |
| Interest income | 5% | flat |

**02.2 Wealth & estate**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wealth tax | NONE | no annual wealth tax · no real-estate wealth tax · no net-worth assessment |
| Inheritance system | APPLIES | heir-based · 5 heir classes |

| Heir | Top rate | Allowance |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Spouse | EXEMPT | — |
| Children | EXEMPT | — |
| Siblings | EXEMPT | — |
| Other relatives | 10% | VND 10,000,000 |
| Non-relatives | 10% | VND 10,000,000 |

**02.3 Crypto**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Crypto · tax regime | UNREGULATED | Fallback rate: 35% · Cryptocurrency is not officially recognized as a legal asset or means of payment in Vietnam. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) prohibits its use as a payment method, but ownership and trading are not explicitly criminalized. In the absence of specific crypto tax laws, the General Department of Taxation (GDT) treats gains as taxable under general Personal Income Tax (PIT) rules for 'business income' or 'other income,' which follow a progressive scale up to 35%. A comprehensive legal framework for 'virtual assets' is currently being drafted by the Ministry of Finance and is expected in 2025. |
| Crypto-to-crypto | NEUTRAL | a swap is not a taxable realisation event |
| FATF travel rule | NOT SIGNED | no information-sharing obligation on VASP transfers |

## Easy to run a company there?

Long story short: YES, BUT TAXED.
Corporate tax in **Vietnam** lands at a *moderate* **20%**, no IP-box to soften it. Standard accounting, VAT at **10**, the usual dose of paperwork. Nothing to celebrate, nothing to flee.

**03.1 Rates**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Corporate tax | 20% | flat |
| VAT standard rate | 10% | single rate · no reduced tiers |

| VAT family | Category | Rate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Digital & telecom | digital | 10% |

**03.2 Regime & registry**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| IP Box · Patent Box | NONE | no IP regime · IP income taxed under standard corporate rules |
| Misuse of corporate assets | NO CRIMINAL | no criminal liability · In Vietnam, while Article 77 of the Law on Enterprises 2020 strictly requires a sole owner to separate personal assets from company assets, the misuse of funds in a solvent company is treated as a civil or tax matter. The primary legal consequence is the 'piercing of the corporate veil' under Article 77.5, which makes the owner personally liable for all company debts. Although the Penal Code (Art. 353) criminalizes embezzlement in the private sector, it is generally not applicable to a 100% sole shareholder because the element of 'appropriating property of another' is absent when no other stakeholders or creditors are harmed. |
| Shareholders privacy | PUBLIC PAYWALL | National Business Registration Portal |
| Directors privacy | PUBLIC | National Business Registration Portal |

**03.3 Incorporation cost**

_In this country, the most standard company form is called Công ty trách nhiệm hữu hạn (Limited Liability Company (LLC)). The costs below are for incorporating a company in its simplest form, for reference only._

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Government Registration Fees (IRC, ERC, Seal, and Announcement) | USD 190 |  |
| Professional Legal and Incorporation Services | USD 2,470 |  |
| Digital Signature (USB Token) and E-Invoice Setup | USD 114 |  |
| Total | USD 2,774 |  |

## A good fit for a holding?

Long story short: NOT REALLY.
**Vietnam** carries an *extensive* treaty network (**50** agreements) that cuts inbound withholding nicely.

The missing piece is a participation exemption: dividends coming up from subsidiaries eat the *full* corporate schedule (**20%**) unless a treaty does all the work on its own.

Good for operations; as a pure holding base, the domestic layer helps itself on the way through.

**04.1 Substance & exemptions**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Territorial · individuals | WORLDWIDE | worldwide income taxation regardless of source |
| Territorial · corporates | WORLDWIDE | worldwide corporate taxation |
| Participation exemption | NONE | no dividend participation exemption regime |
| CFC rules | NONE | no controlled foreign corporation regime · foreign-source corporate income out of scope |

**04.2 Withholding tax · non-resident**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| WHT · dividends | 0% | non-resident outbound |
| WHT · interest | 5% | non-resident outbound |
| WHT · royalties | 10% | non-resident outbound |
| Tax-haven WHT | NONE | no punitive rate on record |

**04.3 Treaty network**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Treaties signed | 46 | active |
| Treaties pending | 4 | in negotiation |

## Easy to come and go?

Long story short: SOME.
**Vietnam** taxes your worldwide income while you're resident, but at least the exit is free: *no exit tax* on the way out.

Leaving costs you paperwork, not money; your unrealised gains walk out the door with you, untouched.

**05.1 Exit & dual nationality**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Exit tax | NONE | no triggers active · residence change tax-free · no deemed-disposal mechanism |
| Dual citizenship | FORBIDDEN | naturalisation requires renouncing existing citizenship |

**05.2 Citizenship paths**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Residence | 5 years | available path to naturalisation |
| Marriage | — | available path to naturalisation |
| Birth | — | not available |
| Descent | — | not available |
| Investment | — | not available |

## Is your money watched?

Long story short: PARTLY.
**Vietnam** has signed *most* of the standard exchange frameworks *and* runs a public corporate registry. Your accounts get reported to your home tax office, and your shareholdings sit in the shop window.

Watched on both axes: not wall-to-wall, but don't come here for discretion.

**Multilateral reporting frameworks — 3/9 active · 2 pending**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CRS | None | — |
| CARF | None | — |
| FATCA | In force | 2016 |
| MLI | In force | 2023 |
| BEPS | Signed | — |
| MAAC | In force | 2023 |
| GLOBAL FORUM | Signed | — |
| EOIR | None | — |
| CRYPTO TRAVEL RULE | None | — |

## Is it blacklisted?

Long story short: YES.
**Vietnam** is flagged by *both supranational watchdogs at once*: the **FATF** (grey/black list) and the **EU** (non-cooperative list). It doesn't get worse than this.

Enhanced due diligence applies worldwide by default, EU defensive measures fire automatically (deductions denied, withholding jacked up, DAC6 filings), and plenty of banks just refuse the exposure, full stop.

The country's name is itself the red flag; what you actually do inside it barely registers with a compliance desk.

**Blacklist exposure — Listed by 2 authorities**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| EMBARGO | Clear | un / us / eu sanctions |
| FATF | Listed | grey / black list |
| EU | Listed | non-cooperative list |
| FRANCE | Clear | ETNC list |
| SPAIN | Clear | tax-haven list |
| PORTUGAL | Clear | favourable regimes |
| BRAZIL | Clear | low-tax list |

## Do you feel free there?

Long story short: NO.
Press freedom in **Vietnam** is *locked down* (RSF rank **\#173**). Independent media and civic space operate under pressure (when they operate at all), and that kind of grip usually spills over into economic life too.

Small mercy: crypto isn't formally banned.

**08.1 Press freedom**

| Metric | Value | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Press freedom · RSF index | 173/180 | score 19 · ↑ 1 rank year-on-year |

Central bank digital currency

    Program Status Cross-border Sources     Vietnam CBDC

State Bank of Vietnam

   RESEARCH   —   [announce →](https://vanbanphapluat.co/decision-942-qd-ttg-2021-development-of-e-government-with-orientations-towards-2030 "Announcement")

 programs 1

## Connected to the world?

Long story short: POORLY CONNECTED.
The two rails that matter are both dead in **Vietnam**. *Stripe* won't onboard you, so card payments mean a foreign structure or a local processor with its own rules. *Amazon* doesn't deliver either.

Some secondary services run (**5/11**), but for an online business this is swimming against the current.

**Accept payments — 3/6 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stripe | Not available | card payments |
| PayPal | Available | wallet payments |
| Adyen | Available | enterprise psp |
| Mollie | Not available | eu payments |
| GoCardless | Not available | direct debit |
| Paddle | Available | merchant of record |

**Bank and move money — 1/3 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wise | Available | multi-currency |
| Revolut | Not available | personal banking |
| Revolut Business | Not available | business banking |

**Buy and sell on Amazon — 1/2 available**

| Item | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Amazon | Not available | consumer delivery |
| Amazon Seller | Available | marketplace selling |

  SEE ALSO## Other jurisdictions worth comparing

Picked by similarity of strategic profile to Vietnam. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.

  PROFILE-ADJACENT Same shape, comparable overall friction.

 [   Lebanon LB  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/lb) [   St. Pierre & Miquelon PM  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/pm) [   St. Martin MF  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mf)

  NOTABLY MORE FAVORABLE Same family of strategies, higher total score.

 [   India IN  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/in) [   Egypt EG  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/eg) [   Rwanda RW  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/rw)

  NOTABLY LESS FAVORABLE Same family of strategies, lower total score.

 [   St. Pierre & Miquelon PM  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/pm) [   St. Martin MF  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/mf) [   Côte d’Ivoire CI  → ](https://stateless.sx/en/country/ci)