December Salary Paid in January: Which Tax Year Does It Belong To?

June 26, 2026 | Guidelines, Setting up a company in Vietnam

Our company declares Personal Income Tax (PIT) based on the payroll period. For annual tax finalization, the data used to span from the tax return of December of the previous year to November of the current year. In the past, the tax system accepted this declaration method. However, since 2025, the tax system has only recorded data based on the calendar year (from January to December). Consequently, when filing the 2025 annual PIT finalization, our company declared based on the data tracked by the tax authority. Now, I would like to file a supplementary tax return to match our payroll period correctly; how should this be handled? Can I file a supplementary return for December 2024 with the data set to 0, combine that data into January 2025 to file a supplementary return for January, and then transfer and combine the data of December 2025 into January 2026?

Answer:

The Dong Nai Tax Department responds to this matter as follows:

Pursuant to Clause 8 and Clause 16, Article 2 of Decree No. 12/2015/ND-CP dated February 12, 2015, of the Government, amending and supplementing Article 11 and Article 31 of Decree No. 65/2013/ND-CP dated June 27, 2013, of the Government:

"8. Amending and supplementing Article 11 as follows:

Article 11. Tax on income from wages and salaries

1. Taxable income from wages and salaries is determined in accordance with Clause 2, Article 3 of this Decree.

2. The time of determining taxable income from wages and salaries is the time when the employer pays the wages or salaries to the taxpayer, or the time when the taxpayer receives the income."

Based on the aforementioned guidance, in the event that your company paid the December 2024 salary to employees in January 2025, this payment is determined to be taxable income from wages and salaries for January 2025, as prescribed in Clause 8 and Clause 16, Article 2 of Decree No. 12/2015/ND-CP dated February 12, 2015, of the Government.

When the company performs the 2025 annual PIT finalization, the total taxable income from wages and salaries shall be determined from January 2025 to December 2025 if declaring on a monthly basis (or from Quarter 1/2025 to Quarter 4/2025 if declaring on a quarterly basis).

The Dong Nai Tax Department hereby notifies you for your information and proper implementation in compliance with the legal regulations.

Source

The information contained in this article is general and intended only to provide information on legal regulations. DB Legal will not be responsible for any use or application of this information for any business purpose. For in-depth advice on specific cases, please contact us.

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