Job Discussion Forums

[ferryc2]

If i sign a contract with 2100 Gross income, how much can I expect to lose in Taxes?


Assuming I begin in January of 2010 and sign a one year contract.

[TimkinMS]

[kattate]

This is probably a silly question, but is the tax refunded to you when you depart the country?

[inky]

Not a silly question, but unfortunately the answer is no. Some teachers might receive a small tax refund at the end of the fiscal year if they have overpaid, but there's little hope of that unless you teach for a year.

[jb0072009]

Ok here is what you do. First that is in the 25% bracket. You ask the school for a dup contract with a salary of $500/month. Then you in 5% bracket. Some schools will do, others not. Be sure it states in the dup contract that it does not supercede any previous contracts

[Zembekiko1Aegean]

Dayum, JB, yo betta hope dat da tax folks aint readin dat post. There are schools in Vietnam who go the extra mile and pay you net. They take care of the taxes. If you're a good enough teacher, they'll hire you.

[The Fat Rabbit]

Not quite. First of all, they just lowered the non-resident tax from 25% to 20%. And it's only a flat 20% rate if you're residing in the country for less than 90 days in the tax year. As well, I've read that if you work for less than a month, you don't pay tax at all.

If you have a contract for longer than 90 days, then you pay a progressive tax rate as follows.

0 - 5 Mil VND - 5% (first 5 mil VND of your earnings is taxed 5%)
5 - 10 Mil VND - 10% (second 5 mil VND or your earnings is taxed 10%)
10 - 18 Mil VND - 15%(the next 8 mil VND is taxed at 15%)
18 - 32 Mil VND - 20% ( and so on and so on)
32 - 52 Mil VND - 25%
52 - 80 Mil VND - 30%
Over 80 Mil VND - 35%

$2100USD = 38,808,000 at today's rate

Your tax would be:
5% of 5 Mil VND = 250,000 VND +
10% of 5 Mil VND = 500,000 VND +
15% of 8 Mil VND = 1,200,000 VND +
20% of 14 Mil VND = 2,800,000 VND +
25% of 6,808,000 VND = 1,702,000 VND
Total tax paid on $2100 USD = 6,452,000 VND or $350 USD


If you're contract is longer than 90 days, or you plan on staying longer than 90 days, you should inform your employer that you don't need to pay the 20% tax rate for the first 3 months. Although I imagine some schools take that tax rate automatically and pay it back after you've been in the country for 3 months. However, this isn't necessary.

As well, You need a tax code number to pay tax. You can get it yourself quite easily or the school can do it for you. Takes about 10 days and didn't cost anything. If your school says you don't need one, I'd suspect the school doesn't want to pay it. You don't need a work permit to get one because the two things don't necessarily come together. I got my tax code number and I still don't have a work permit.

Lastly, the school is legally required to provide you with a completed "tax withholding form" for each month. However, most schools probably don't practice this and you would really only ask for one if you suspected the school wasn't paying it for you. The tax man at the tax bureau told me that if the school didn't pay my taxes and the bureau found out that my taxes weren't paid, my school could legally say that they didn't withhold my taxes. The paper is legal proof that the school has taken the tax money and will pay it on the employee's behalf. Meaning that without this paper, the school could 'legally' steal money from it's employees.

Can we post links here? This info is available on the net in case you don't believe me.

[The Fat Rabbit]

http://www.pwccn.com/webmedia/doc/633784184539486999_aptn22_may2009_vn.pdf

[jb0072009]

[AmanJivan]

[Zembekiko1Aegean]

JB, Yes, I know that they are paying taxes in my behalf. I get a statement every month to that effect.
Dollar accounts? Last time I checked, EVERY SCHOOL IN VIETNAM by law has to pay in VND. Ridiculous statement.
I don't work for either Appolo nor ILA. My school takes care of my taxes and intends to be in business for quite a long time. It just seems that your statements can be viewed as 1) misleading, and 2) illegal. My post in response to your "cheat the tax man" was for your benefit.

[Green Acres]

Tax issues are difficult at best. It depends on your monthly, and even some schools pay every 2 weeks and deduct tax. If you are making 38,000,000 flat, then, yes....at least 20%.

if you are paid in 2 week intervals, then you may be able to pay less tax. The tax is levied on payments, and it is not cumulative. This is one reason some schools pay every two weeks...to keep the tax numbers down (on all employees).

One fallacy is to think that you will be paid in dollar equivalents. The bank rate is used to exchange, and you will lose about 5-10% of your value as the bank rate is lower than the black market rate. If you wish to change money, then you will lose again, so the actual amount of tax one pays becomes variable.

If you are only dealing in dong, well, it's still good to change it while it has more value. Holding on to it will not gain any value, even with the high interest rate savings accounts.

Tax, in the end, is more than just the government levy, but the whole process involved in getting paid.

[Zembekiko1Aegean]

I don't know about anyone else here, but I didn't just come here to make money. I came here for myriad other reasons. If Hanoi want's to take a chunk out of my monthly pay, I hope it improves the lives of the VN people. I am currently being charged about five million in taxes each month. It's a good thing if it eventually reaches the people who need it. It's a better thing if my school is able to afford to pay this amount in my behalf.

[Porlestone]

[jb0072009]

Very naive. I will say no more.