In 2026 a Vietnam tax resident deducts ₫15,500,000 a month for themselves, plus ₫6,200,000 for every registered dependant, under Resolution 110/2025/UBTVQH15.
What that is worth in cash is smaller and less predictable than the headline suggests. At ₫40,000,000 a month the first dependant saves ₫620,000 a month in PIT. The second saves only a further ₫515,000, not another ₫620,000.
Personal deduction
₫15,500,000
a month, every resident taxpayer
Each dependant
₫6,200,000
a month, once registered
Worth in PIT
₫515,000 to ₫620,000
a month, depending on your band
Run your own salary and dependant count.
Open the PIT & Dependants CalculatorThe order matters: insurance, then deductions, then PIT
A dependant deduction reduces taxable income. It is not a rebate off the final tax bill, which is exactly why the same ₫6,200,000 is worth different amounts to different people.
| Step | What goes into it |
|---|---|
| 1. Gross salary | The contractual monthly pay your employer uses for payroll. |
| 2. Employee insurance | 8% social and 1.5% health on a base capped at ₫50,600,000, plus 1% unemployment on its own higher ceiling of ₫106,200,000 in Region I. |
| 3. Deductions | ₫15,500,000 for you, plus ₫6,200,000 for each registered dependant. |
| 4. PIT | The five 2026 bands (5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 35%) apply to whatever is left. |
Why the second dependant is worth less than the first
This is the part that surprises people. Take ₫40,000,000 gross a month. Employee insurance is ₫4,200,000 in every row, and only the deductions change.
| Dependants | Taxable income | Monthly PIT | Take-home | Saved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | ₫20,300,000 | ₫1,530,000 | ₫34,270,000 | baseline |
| 1 | ₫14,100,000 | ₫910,000 | ₫34,890,000 | ₫620,000 |
| 2 | ₫7,900,000 | ₫395,000 | ₫35,405,000 | ₫1,135,000 |
The first dependant is worth ₫620,000 a month. The second brings the total to ₫1,135,000, an extra ₫515,000 rather than another ₫620,000, because part of the second deduction removes income that sat below the ₫10,000,000 taxable boundary and was only being taxed at 5%.
At a modest salary, extra dependants stop helping
On ₫30,000,000 a month with two registered dependants, insurance is ₫3,150,000 and the combined deductions of ₫27,900,000 exceed what is left, so taxable income is zero and take-home is ₫26,850,000. With no dependants the PIT on that salary would be ₫635,000 a month, so those two dependants are worth ₫635,000, not ₫12.4 million. A third dependant would be worth nothing at all in monthly PIT, because there is no taxable income left to remove.
How these examples were produced
PayMetric Labs' own modelled estimates, computed with the portal's 2026 Vietnamese dependant PIT engine: the ₫15,500,000 personal and ₫6,200,000 dependant deductions from Resolution 110/2025/UBTVQH15, employee insurance of 10.5%, and the five-band monthly PIT table. Resident employee, no other income.
Who actually qualifies
Children are the familiar category but not the only one. A spouse, parents and certain other relatives the taxpayer directly supports can qualify where the conditions are met. Nobody becomes a deductible dependant merely by being related to you or living in your household.
- Children: age, study status and income conditions all matter, particularly once a child turns 18.
- Adult relatives: the support, income and ability-to-work conditions are material, and documentation is essential.
- Shared children: only one taxpayer may claim at a time, and the deduction cannot be split.
- Registration: payroll needs the dependant's tax registration details and supporting evidence. A verbal declaration is not a claim.
Register it, then check the payslip
The commonest mistake is treating the deduction as automatic. Your employer can only apply what it has enough information to register and support. Give payroll the identification and evidence early, then check the payslip once the registration has been processed, and keep copies of the proof of relationship, education or support that applies.
If two parents could claim a child, choose deliberately rather than by default. The household usually gains more when the claim sits with whichever taxpayer's income would otherwise fall in the higher marginal band. Do not register the same child twice to cover both.
When a payslip still looks wrong, separate the three moving parts before concluding anything: confirm you are treated as a tax resident, check the insurance contribution base and whether a ceiling applied, and confirm how many dependants are registered to you rather than merely supported by your household. Compare an ordinary month against a Tết bonus month separately, because a bonus month has its own withholding pattern.
Check the claim against your real salary
Enter your gross pay and only the dependants you can legitimately register. The result shows the zero-dependant baseline beside it, so you can see what the registration is actually worth.
Open the Vietnam PIT Dependants CalculatorOfficial sources
The Government Legal Document Portal's Resolution 110/2025/UBTVQH15 confirms the 2026 deduction amounts and the 1 January 2026 effective date. For registration procedure and supporting documents, check the current Vietnam Tax Department guidance or ask your employer's payroll team which procedure they follow.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Vietnam's personal deduction in 2026?
A resident taxpayer deducts ₫15,500,000 a month, or ₫186,000,000 a year, before progressive PIT is calculated. It is the personal deduction, giảm trừ bản thân, raised from 1 January 2026 by Resolution 110/2025/UBTVQH15. It is not a cash payment or a tax credit: it reduces the income that reaches the PIT bands.
How much is the dependant deduction in 2026?
₫6,200,000 a month for each registered dependant, or ₫74,400,000 a year for one claimed across all twelve months. It is added to your own ₫15,500,000 before PIT is calculated.
How much tax does one dependant actually save me?
It depends on your marginal band, and the answer is usually smaller than people expect. At ₫40,000,000 a month the first dependant saves ₫620,000 a month but the second saves only a further ₫515,000, because part of the second deduction lands below the ₫10,000,000 taxable threshold where the rate is 5% rather than 10%. A shortcut such as 'each dependant saves ₫6.2 million times my tax rate' only holds while the whole deduction stays inside one band.
Who can be a dependant?
The familiar case is a child under 18, or a child over 18 who is studying and has income below the permitted threshold. It also covers a spouse, parents and certain other relatives the taxpayer directly supports, where the income or incapacity conditions are met. Being related to you or living in your household is not sufficient on its own: eligibility, evidence and registration all matter.
Can both parents claim the same child?
No. A dependant can be claimed by only one taxpayer at a time, and the deduction cannot be split across two payslips. Where both parents could claim, the household usually gains more by putting the claim with whichever taxpayer's income would otherwise fall in the higher marginal band. Confirm the choice with payroll and update it if circumstances change.
Why does my payslip still show PIT after I registered dependants?
Because the deduction reduces taxable income, not gross pay and not insurance. You can still have taxable income left after the personal deduction, the dependant deductions and compulsory insurance. Timing is the other cause: payroll needs the registration and supporting documents before it can apply the change, and an earlier underclaim may only be reconciled at annual finalisation.
What if a dependant is registered part way through the year?
Do not simply divide the annual figure by twelve. The outcome depends on when eligibility began, when registration was made and what evidence is accepted at finalisation. Keep the documents, ask payroll which months it can reflect in withholding, and check the annual position afterwards. A late registration is usually a cash-flow delay rather than a lost entitlement.
Does any of this apply to non-residents?
No. These deductions and the progressive bands are for Vietnam tax residents. A non-resident's Vietnam-sourced employment income is generally taxed at a flat 20% with no personal or dependant deduction. If your residency position changed during the year, take advice before relying on either calculation.
Deduction amounts are from Resolution 110/2025/UBTVQH15, effective 1 January 2026. Worked examples are PayMetric Labs' own modelled estimates using the portal's 2026 Vietnamese dependant PIT engine, for a resident employee with no other income. Eligibility and evidence requirements are summarised, not exhaustive. General information only, not personal tax advice.