Vietnam expects to collect only 203,200 billion đồng in personal income tax in 2026, 33,800 billion (14.3%) short of the budget estimate and 13.6% less than last year, VnExpress reported on 23 October 2026, citing the Finance Ministry's public budget report. The ministry blamed higher family deductions and a simpler tax schedule cut from seven brackets to five. On the same day, the National Assembly heard the government's bill amending three tax laws, including the personal income tax law.
Why the take fell
The amended Personal Income Tax Law, in force since 1 January 2026, raised the personal deduction from 11 million to 15.5 million đồng a month and the allowance for each dependant from 4.4 million to 6.2 million. The lowest rate is now 5% on taxable income up to 10 million đồng a month and the top rate 35% above 100 million. Moving filing from monthly to quarterly also slowed collections: after nine months only about two-thirds of the annual target had come in.
For a worker supporting two dependants, KBVN+ calculates that monthly deductions rise from 19.8 million to 27.9 million đồng, shielding an extra 8.1 million from tax.
The wider budget picture
Environmental protection tax is also set to fall about 26,200 billion short, close to 60% of the estimate, after the levy on petrol (excluding ethanol), diesel and jet fuel was cut to zero from late March. Even so, total revenue is estimated at nearly 3.06 million billion đồng, about 21% above plan, helped by land use fees of around 640,300 billion, 166,200 billion more than budgeted. Tax and fee relief this year totals about 360,000 billion đồng.
What the tax bill changes
According to Báo Chính phủ, Finance Minister Ngo Van Tuan presented the bill on behalf of the Prime Minister on the morning of 23 October. It would exempt non-profit schools, public or private, from corporate income tax; exempt income from catering for schools and hospitals from both corporate and personal income tax; waive land use tax for schools and for ethnic minority households' residential land within quota; and apply a 0.2% rate to abandoned or unused land. The National Assembly's Economic and Finance Committee backed the exemptions for public schools and ethnic minority land but asked for more study of the rest.
What comes next
The 2027 budget plan is now before the National Assembly. VnExpress said it projects revenue of about 3.33 million billion đồng, up more than 9%, spending above 4 million billion, of which nearly 1.77 million billion (43%) goes to development investment, and a deficit of 4.5% of GDP.