Panicked over tax debt.
May 4th-5th is the deadline for filing personal income tax returns this year. On April 22nd, Ms. LTD (Ho Chi Minh City) received an email notification from the tax authority regarding her personal income tax filing obligation. According to the notification, she had a tax liability and was required to file her own personal income tax return. Ms. D. was surprised because she had authorized her employer to handle her personal income tax return and had already completed the process; she had even received a refund for any overpaid tax.
Ms. D. accessed the eTax Mobile application and discovered that, in addition to her income from her current employer, she had three other sources of irregular income totaling 3.8 million VND. This was payment for attending meetings at external organizations, which had not yet been subject to the 10% withholding tax. An acquaintance advised her to cancel the old tax return and file a new one. Late payment could result in a fine of 2-3 million VND. Hearing this, Ms. D. was very worried. It wasn't until May 2nd, after receiving detailed instructions, that she was able to pay her personal income tax. “The process of declaring information and paying taxes was quite convenient on eTax Mobile. I will pay more attention to the information on this application in the future,” Ms. D. said.
Ms. D's case wasn't as "shocking" as Mr. TNN's (Ho Chi Minh City). At the end of 2025, he received an email from the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department informing him that he still owed personal income tax for four years, totaling over 90 million VND. At that point, he installed the eTax Mobile app and checked his income, discovering that he had 5-7 sources of income each year. Since 10% had already been deducted from these sources, he mistakenly thought he had fulfilled his tax obligations and didn't pay attention to it further. Panicked by the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department's notification, he rushed to pay his personal income tax. In addition, he had to pay an extra 15 million VND in late payment penalties.
Similarly to Mr. N., Ms. BC (who works for a non- governmental organization in Ho Chi Minh City) was also surprised to receive a notice requiring her to pay an additional 40 million VND in personal income tax for the past few years, plus late payment penalties. The reason is that, in addition to her main income from her workplace, she also teaches, writes books, and generates extra income from these activities, even though her employers have already deducted 10%. “I agree that if there is a shortfall, I need to pay more, but the tax authorities should have notified taxpayers earlier, instead of delaying it for so long and incurring significant late payment penalties,” Ms. C. said angrily.
Actively monitor and fulfill tax obligations.
Regarding this issue, Ms. Ngo Thanh Hanh, General Director of THTAX Training and Consulting Co., Ltd., said that many workers still mistakenly believe that deducting 10% personal income tax from their temporary income is sufficient. In reality, this is only a provisional deduction. When finalizing the tax return, all income sources must be added together, at which point the personal income tax bracket payable may be higher than 10%. Regarding income that has not been deducted, Ms. Ngo Thanh Hanh cautioned taxpayers against complacency. Even small amounts of just a few hundred thousand dong must be self-declared, and forgetting or exceeding the deadline can still result in penalties. "Please double-check all temporary income on eTax Mobile and file your tax return on time to avoid unnecessary risks," Ms. Hanh said.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, the eTax Mobile application is currently very useful in assisting taxpayers to check their personal tax obligations. In cases where taxpayers cannot manage their occasional income and have authorized their primary employer to file their tax return on their behalf, after the tax filing deadline of the income-paying organization (March 31st), taxpayers can log into eTax Mobile to review their received income. If the occasional income does not meet the conditions for authorized tax filing, taxpayers can proactively file their tax return directly with the tax authorities.
Regarding the aforementioned concerns, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung, Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, explained that according to Decree No. 126/2020, taxpayers who do not simultaneously meet the following two conditions must self-declare their tax returns with the tax authorities: Firstly, they must have incidental income from other sources, with an average monthly income of no more than 10 million VND. Secondly, they must have already had personal income tax deducted at a rate of 10%. To proactively declare and settle taxes correctly and avoid late declarations, taxpayers need to monitor their personal incidental income sources.
Responding to the question of why the tax authorities do not issue periodic notifications but wait many years before reminding taxpayers to settle their tax obligations, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung explained that personal income tax on salaries and wages is a self-declared and self-paid tax. The tax authorities do not issue tax notices to each individual or remind them of their tax obligations. Individuals must proactively check their own tax obligations to declare and pay taxes fully and on time as required. The tax authorities only issue monthly tax debt notices to individuals or request the completion of tax obligations in cases of thematic reviews and audits. For example, a thematic audit might examine the tax obligations of individuals with multiple sources of income; an thematic audit might examine the tax obligations of individuals with deductions for charitable and humanitarian donations; or a thematic audit might examine the personal income tax of celebrities, etc.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/bong-dung-no-thue-tncn-ca-tram-trieu-dong-post851065.html
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