Vietnam 13th-Month Bonus 2026: Is It Mandatory and Taxed?

No. Unlike Mexico's aguinaldo, Brazil's décimo terceiro or the Philippines' 13th month pay, there is no Vietnamese law requiring it. Article 104 of the Labour Code 2019 defines a bonus (thưởng) as money, property or an item the employer provides based on business results or the employee's performance. The employer decides whether to pay it. What the law does require is that if the employer operates a bonus scheme, it must publish a bonus regulation (quy chế thưởng) at the workplace after consulting the employee representative organisation where one exists.

More than you expect in the month it is paid, and less than that over the year. On a mid-level salary of ₫37,100,000 a month, a one-month bonus has about ₫6,190,450 withheld, roughly 16.7%. On the annual finalisation basis the same bonus attracts about ₫3,710,000, or 10.0%. The difference, about ₫2,480,450, comes back to you.

Because Vietnamese PIT withholding is calculated monthly on a progressive scale. A bonus stacks on top of that month's ordinary salary, so the combined figure is pushed into bands you never normally reach. A mid-level engineer whose salary normally tops out in the 10% band lands in the 20% band in the bonus month. Nothing has gone wrong; the monthly calculation simply cannot see that the other eleven months are smaller.

Through annual tax finalisation (quyết toán thuế). Your full-year income is assessed against annual brackets, which are the monthly brackets multiplied by twelve, and what has already been withheld is credited against the result. If you had one employer for the whole year and no other income, the employer can usually finalise on your behalf by authorisation. Otherwise you file with the tax authority yourself.

Generally no, and this is the part that works in your favour. The compulsory insurance base is the salary and fixed allowances stated in the labour contract, not one-off bonuses. So a ₫37,100,000 bonus carries no 10.5% employee contribution, and no employer contribution either. The bonus is dearer than salary on PIT and cheaper on insurance.

Not necessarily, and the labels are used loosely. Some employers pay one payment and call it both. Others run a fixed 13th month payment and a separate discretionary Tết amount tied to company results. A third group pays only a performance award timed near Tết. The tax treatment is identical in each case, but the entitlement is not, so read the policy rather than the label.

That depends entirely on the written policy, because nothing in law sets a proration rule. Common approaches are proration by months worked in the calendar year, a minimum service requirement such as twelve months, or full discretion. If you are leaving before Tết, the timing of your last working day against the payment date is often what decides it, so check the policy before setting a resignation date.

Three likely reasons. Registered dependants reduce taxable income by ₫6,200,000 each a month, which lowers the withholding in the bonus month as well. Your bonus may not be exactly one month's salary. Or the employer may spread the payment across two months, which softens the spike and reduces the amount over-withheld in the first place.