Question 84: Does the Law on PIT limit the number of registered dependents for taxpayers to deduct PIT?

The current Law on PIT has not yet covered any limitation on the number of registered dependents for a taxpayer. Accordingly, taxpayers may register their dependents without any quantitative restriction as long as they meet the following conditions:

  • The dependent must be one of the following[1]:
  • Children includes biological children, lawfully adopted children, illegitimate children, each spouse’s separate children, specifically:

+          Children under the age of 18 (calculated in full month);

+          Children over 18 years of age who are disabled, unable to work; and

+          Children are studying in Vietnam or abroad at a university, college, professional secondary school, vocational training school, including children aged 18 and over who are studying general education (including the time of awaiting college entrance exams after 12th grade from June to September) have no income/have average income of no more than VND1,000,000 per month from all income sources.

  • Spouse of a taxpayer; biological father, biological mother; father-in-law, mother-in-law (of a spouse); stepfather, stepmother; lawful adoptive parents of a taxpayer; and other helpless dependents that taxpayers are directly responsible for supporting (siblings of any taxpayer, paternal grandfather and grandmother; maternal grandfather and grandmother; maternal and paternal aunts and maternal and paternal uncles of a taxpayer, nephews and nieces of a taxpayer, including the children of the taxpayer’s siblings, and other persons under direct nurture by a taxpayer in accordance with the law), meet the following conditions:

+          For persons of working age, the following conditions must be met: (i) being handicapped and unable to work; and (ii) having no income or having average monthly income of no more than VND 1,000,000 in the year from all income sources; and

+          For persons outside working age, having no income or having average monthly income of no more than VND 1,000,000 in the year from all income sources.

  • Each dependent is only eligible to be deducted once per taxpayer in the tax year. Where many taxpayers have dependents under common nurture, they will have to reach an internal agreement on registering a tax reduction on a taxpayer due to family situation[2].

[1]Article 9.1 (d) and (đ) Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC dated 15/08/2013

[2]Article 9.1 (c.2.4) Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC dated 15/08/2013