Adjusting personal income tax schedule; collecting tax on gold bar transfer

(Chinhphu.vn) - Continuing the 10th session, on the morning of November 4, the National Assembly listened to the Presentation and Verification Report on the draft Law on Personal Income Tax (amended) with many notable points such as adjusting the personal income tax (PIT) table, proposing to collect 0.1% tax on gold bar transfer activities.

Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang presented the Government's Proposal

Presenting the Government 's Report, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang said that the Draft Law on Personal Income Tax (amended) consists of 4 chapters and 29 articles, regulating taxpayers, taxable income, tax-exempt income, tax reduction, and the basis for calculating personal income tax.

Some notable contents include the draft Law amending the regulations on personal income tax for business individuals. Specifically, regarding the level of revenue not subject to tax, amending the regulation on the level of revenue not subject to personal income tax to 200 million VND/year to ensure consistency with the provisions of the Law on Value Added Tax recently issued by the National Assembly . At the same time, the Government is assigned to adjust the level to be consistent with tax management for business individuals.

The Draft Law supplements the method of calculating income tax on business income of resident individuals as follows: Tax on business individuals with annual revenue of over VND 3 billion to VND 50 billion is determined by multiplying taxable income by the tax rate of 17%; for business individuals with annual revenue of over VND 50 billion, the tax rate of 20% is applied. Taxable income is determined by revenue from goods and services sold minus (-) expenses related to production and business activities during the tax period.

Regarding the adjustment of family deduction levels, on October 17, 2025, the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) passed a Resolution of the NASC on adjusting the family deduction levels of personal income tax.

Accordingly, the deduction for the taxpayer himself/herself will be adjusted from 11 million VND/month to 15.5 million VND/month, the deduction for each dependent will be adjusted from 4.4 million VND/month to 6.2 million VND/month and the new family deduction level will be implemented from the effective date of the Resolution and applied from the 2026 tax period, accordingly, individuals will be deducted according to the new family deduction level from January 2026.

In order to promote the policy of decentralization and delegation of power and ensure flexibility, consistent with the Government's operational reality, the draft Law assigns the Government to adjust this deduction level based on fluctuations in prices and income.

Minister Nguyen Van Thang also said that the draft has adjusted the progressive tax schedule applicable to resident individuals with income from salaries and wages in the direction of reducing the number of tax rates from 7 to 5 and widening the gap between the rates.

During the process of drafting the Law, in the documents sent to solicit comments from ministries, branches, localities, National Assembly delegations and relevant organizations and individuals, the drafting agency proposed two options for the Tax Schedule.

Option 1: Amend the Tax Schedule to 5 levels with the distance between levels being 10, 20, 20, 30 million VND respectively, 5 levels corresponding to tax rates of 5%, 15%, 25%, 30%, 35% and the final tax rate is 35% applied to taxable income over 80 million VND/month.

According to calculations, along with the adjustment of the new family deduction level, this Tax Schedule adjustment plan will reduce revenue by about 26,400 billion VND/year.

Option 2: Amend the Tax Schedule to 5 levels with the distance between levels increasing gradually to 10, 20, 30, 40 million VND and the tax rates are similar to Option 1: 5%, 15%, 25%, 30%, 35%, the last tax rate level is 35% applied to taxable income over 100 million VND/month.

According to calculations, along with the adjustment of the new family deduction level, this Tax Schedule adjustment plan will reduce revenue by about 27,400 billion VND/year.

Through synthesizing the participating opinions, the majority of opinions agreed with Option 2 and the Government submitted to the National Assembly according to the above Option 2. According to this Option, the mobilization rate of most tax levels will be reduced compared to the current level.

However, based on the review opinions and discussion opinions in the Group and Hall of the National Assembly deputies, the Government will conduct a comprehensive study and make additional, thorough assessments to ensure reasonableness, and report to the National Assembly for consideration.

Proposal to collect 0.1% tax on gold bar transfer activities

Regarding gold bar transactions, according to the provisions of the law on gold trading and the law on investment, gold bar trading is a conditional business activity. Only enterprises and credit institutions licensed by the State Bank to trade in gold bars are allowed to trade in gold bars; trading in gold bars without a license is a violation of the law on gold trading.

Therefore, individuals are not allowed to trade in gold bars. The buying and selling of gold bars by individuals that generates income is determined as other income (not income from business).

The draft Law proposes to impose a 0.1% tax on gold bar transfers to improve market transparency, limit speculation, and assign the Government to specify the taxable gold bar value threshold, the time of application, and adjust the tax rate in accordance with the gold market management roadmap.

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai presented the Audit Report.

It is necessary to develop regulations to ensure fairness among income groups.

Presenting the Audit Report of the Economic and Financial Committee, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai said that many opinions suggested considering properly imposing tax on gold bar transfers to avoid inconveniences for people who transfer gold not for speculative or business purposes.

Regarding personal income tax on business income (Article 7), the draft Law supplements regulations on the level of revenue of business individuals not subject to personal income tax (from 200 million VND/year or less, similar to the provisions of the Law on Value Added Tax).

However, this non-taxable revenue threshold is too low compared to business practice and does not ensure fairness when compared with the income of salaried employees with family deductions.

It is recommended that the Drafting Agency calculate and adjust the tax-free revenue level of individual business owners to be more equal and consistent with the family deduction level (accordingly, this threshold level of the Law on Value Added Tax can be adjusted at the same time).

In addition, this revenue threshold is directly related to the rights and obligations of taxpayers, which needs to be stipulated in the Law to ensure the authority of the National Assembly and clarity and transparency for taxpayers. Therefore, it is proposed to remove the provision in Clause 4, Article 7 of the draft Law.

The Draft Law has specifically stipulated the revenue threshold (3 billion) as the basis for applying the tax calculation method based on the percentage of revenue. However, the tax rates based on the percentage are still kept as they are currently. The change from the lump-sum mechanism to the application of revenue declaration based on invoices will lead to changes in the revenue of households/individuals doing business (basically, it will increase higher than the lump-sum levels that households/individuals are currently applying).

Accordingly, personal income tax obligations will increase for many households and business individuals, while most other taxpayers, such as salaried individuals, high-income earners in the field of science and technology, etc., will have their personal income tax obligations significantly reduced.

It is recommended that the Drafting Agency supplement specific impact assessment data on the budget, especially on changes in tax burdens for individuals doing business for a living. If necessary (if the change in declared revenue compared to the current fixed rates is too large), it is recommended that the Drafting Agency consider adjusting tax rates to ensure that the tax burden on the majority of individuals doing business is not too greatly affected, in line with the spirit of Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW and the Party and State's goal of improving people's lives...

Thu Giang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/dieu-chinh-bieu-thue-thu-nhap-ca-nhan-thu-thue-chuyen-nhuong-vang-mieng-102251104112653441.htm