The new 2026 personal income tax table: 5 brackets instead of 7, with brackets 2 and 3 cut to 10% and 20%
From the 2026 tax period, Vietnam's progressive personal income tax (PIT) table drops from 7 brackets to 5 under PIT Law 109/2025/QH15, Article 9 — bracket 2 falls from 15% to 10%, bracket 3 from 25% to 20%, alongside a raised personal deduction of 15.5 million / 6.2 million VND. Here is the new table, who gains, and the point people get wrong most: when it starts to apply.
If your company pays salaries and withholds personal income tax (PIT) for employees, there is one big change to fold into your calculation from 2026: the progressive PIT table drops from 7 brackets to 5, and the two middle brackets have their rates cut. This post summarizes the new table, who benefits, and the detail people trip over most — the date it starts to apply.
The new table: 5 brackets, top rate still 35%
The old table (Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC) had 7 brackets, with rates from 5% to 35% and the top 35% applying to monthly taxable income above 80 million VND. From the 2026 tax period, PIT Law 109/2025/QH15, Article 9 replaces it with a 5-bracket table:
| Bracket | Monthly taxable income | Annual taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | up to 10 million | up to 120 million | 5% |
| 2 | over 10 – 30 million | over 120 – 360 million | 10% |
| 3 | over 30 – 60 million | over 360 – 720 million | 20% |
| 4 | over 60 – 100 million | over 720 – 1,200 million | 30% |
| 5 | over 100 million | over 1,200 million | 35% |
Three things worth noting:
- Brackets 2 and 3 have their rates cut. The law revised the table downward — 15% at bracket 2 to 10%, and 25% at bracket 3 to 20%. This is the part that lets middle-income earners pay less tax than under the old table.
- The top rate is still 35%, but it now applies only to monthly taxable income above 100 million (the old table used above 80 million), so the threshold for hitting the ceiling widens a little too.
- “Taxable income” is the figure after deductions (personal, dependants, compulsory insurance…), not gross salary. So you must apply the new deduction amounts below before reading the table.
Don’t confuse 10%/20% with 15%/25%
During drafting there was a version that set bracket 2 at 15% and bracket 3 at 25%, and many secondary write-ups still copy those draft figures. The version the National Assembly passed cut them to 10% and 20% — exactly along the lines of “reduce the 15% rate at bracket 2 to 10%, and 25% at bracket 3 to 20%.” When you look this up, check it against the full text of Law 109/2025/QH15 so you don’t use the superseded draft numbers.
The new personal deduction: 15.5 million / 6.2 million
Alongside the new table, the personal (family-circumstance) deduction is also raised for the 2026 tax period under Resolution 110/2025/UBTVQH15:
- Taxpayer themselves: 15.5 million VND/month (previously 11 million).
- Each dependant: 6.2 million VND/month (previously 4.4 million).
A higher deduction means lower taxable income, so the taxpayer gains twice over: more is deducted before reading the table, and the two middle brackets carry a lower rate.
The detail people get wrong most: when does it apply?
This is where many people hesitate. Law 109/2025/QH15 has a general effective date of 01/07/2026, so some ask whether the 5-bracket table only kicks in mid-year.
The answer: the 5-bracket table and the new deductions apply to the whole 2026 tax period, i.e. from 01/01/2026, including January–June. The reason sits right in the transitional clause: income from the salaries and wages of resident individuals applies from the 2026 tax period, not from the general effective date. In collection terms, monthly withholding is only a provisional payment toward the full-year liability — and the 2026 PIT liability is computed on the 5-bracket table — so withholding on the new table from January is the consistent approach, and avoids withholding on the old table only to true it up at finalization later.
In short: for all of 2026, both withholding and finalization use the 5-bracket table + the 15.5/6.2 deductions, with no “first-half-year uses the old table” phase.
Every figure carries the law
True to Kê Khai’s every figure carries the law principle, every number above traces back to its source text on an official government portal:
- The 5-bracket table + the application date: PIT Law 109/2025/QH15, Articles 9 and 29 — Article 9 is the 5-bracket progressive table; Article 29 sets the general effective date of 01/07/2026 while salary/wage income of resident individuals applies from the 2026 tax period.
- The 15.5 / 6.2 million personal deduction: Resolution 110/2025/UBTVQH15, Article 1 — 15.5 million/month for the taxpayer, 6.2 million/month per dependant, from the 2026 tax period.
- The old 7-bracket table (in effect through the end of the 2025 tax period): Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC, Article 7 and Appendix 01/PL-TNCN.
Kê Khai computes this for you
Kê Khai has already updated the 2026 5-bracket table and the new deductions in its PIT withholding and finalization steps: when you enter salaries and the number of dependants, the app reads the correct bracket, computes the tax to withhold, and every figure links straight to the article of law behind it — the Article 9 table, the NQ 110/2025 deduction, and the 2026-tax-period application date — so you don’t have to remember which number changed.
You can open the Kê Khai app to try the payroll withholding calculation on the new table, or read more on why every figure carries the law.
This is the English edition of a Vietnamese-first advisory. Read the original: Biểu thuế TNCN mới từ 2026: 5 bậc thay cho 7.