Gross-to-Net Salary Calculator
How to Calculate Net Salary from Gross in Vietnam (2026)
One-line answer: For the 2026 tax year, a Vietnamese resident's net (take-home) salary is the gross salary minus compulsory insurance of 10.5% (8% social + 1.5% health + 1% unemployment), minus personal income tax computed on what is left after a 15,500,000 VND personal deduction and 6,200,000 VND per dependant. A resident earning 20,000,000 VND a month with one dependant keeps the full 17,900,000 VND after insurance and pays no tax.
Built by HAPRI, the Health and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, an independent public-policy research institute in Vietnam. Legal basis: Personal Income Tax Law 109/2025/QH15 (Article 9 brackets, Article 10 family deductions), Social Insurance Law 41/2024/QH15 (Article 33 the 8% social-insurance rate, Article 31.1(d) the contribution cap), and Employment Law 74/2025/QH15 (the 1% unemployment rate). Published: 3 June 2026 · Last updated: 3 June 2026 · Law last verified: 3 June 2026 against the Ministry of Justice National Legal Portal (phapluat.gov.vn).
1. Quick answer
In Vietnam, your net salary (lương net, take-home pay) is what remains after two deductions are taken from your gross salary (lương gross, the contract figure):
- Compulsory insurance, 10.5% of the contribution base: 8% social insurance (BHXH), 1.5% health insurance (BHYT), and 1% unemployment insurance (BHTN).
- Personal income tax (PIT), computed on taxable income after a 15,500,000 VND personal deduction, 6,200,000 VND for each dependant, and the insurance just deducted.
So the flow is gross to insurance to taxable income to PIT to net. A resident on 20,000,000 VND a month with one dependant pays 2,100,000 in insurance, has zero taxable income (the deductions exceed it), pays no PIT, and takes home 17,900,000 VND, a net of 89.5% of gross. Trade-union dues, if you are a union member, are an optional extra deduction (0.5% of the social-insurance base) that reduces take-home pay but does not reduce tax.
2. How net salary is calculated, step by step
The calculator above runs exactly this gross to net flow for a resident employee. Each step feeds the next.
- Start from gross monthly salary (the contract figure, before any deductions).
- Subtract compulsory insurance. The employee pays 8% to social insurance (BHXH), 1.5% to health insurance (BHYT), and 1% to unemployment insurance (BHTN): 10.5% in total. Two separate caps apply to the base these rates are charged on (see Section 3).
- Compute taxable income. Take gross, subtract the insurance from step 2, subtract the 15,500,000 VND personal deduction, and subtract 6,200,000 VND for each registered dependant. If the result is zero or negative, there is no tax.
- Compute PIT by applying the five progressive bands (5% to 35%) to that taxable income.
- Arrive at net pay. Net = gross minus insurance minus PIT. If you are a trade-union member, subtract the union dues as well (0.5% of the social-insurance base); they come out of pay but are not part of the tax calculation.
The formula, in order:
The order matters. Insurance is subtracted before tax, both as a cash deduction from pay and as a deduction from the taxable base. This is the step that most quick "gross to net" estimates online skip, which makes their tax look larger than it should.
3. Rates, deductions and thresholds (2026)
All values below are for the 2026 tax year and link to the authentic government text in Section 8.
Insurance rates (employee share)
- Social insurance: BHXH (bảo hiểm xã hội) · 8% · Law 41/2024/QH15, Art. 33
- Health insurance: BHYT (bảo hiểm y tế) · 1.5% · Health Insurance Law 25/2008/QH12 as amended by 51/2024/QH15
- Unemployment insurance: BHTN (bảo hiểm thất nghiệp) · 1% · Employment Law 74/2025/QH15
- Total employee insurance: · 10.5% ·
Contribution caps (the base each rate is charged on)
- Social + health insurance (BHXH + BHYT): 20 × reference level · 50,600,000 VND · Law 41/2024/QH15, Art. 31.1(d)
- Unemployment insurance (BHTN): 20 × regional minimum wage · Zone I: 106,200,000 VND · Employment Law 74/2025/QH15, Art. 34.2
Why two caps matter: social and health insurance stop growing once gross salary passes 50,600,000 VND, but unemployment insurance keeps scaling on the full salary up to a much higher ceiling. For salaries up to 50.6 million the two caps coincide and insurance is simply 10.5% of gross; above that the calculation splits (see Example B), which is exactly how the calculator handles it.
PIT deductions
- Personal deduction (giảm trừ bản thân): 15,500,000 VND (15.5 million) · Resolution 110/2025/UBTVQH15
- Per-dependant deduction (giảm trừ người phụ thuộc): 6,200,000 VND (6.2 million) each · Resolution 110/2025/UBTVQH15
Progressive PIT bands (monthly taxable income)
- 1: 0 to 10,000,000 · 5% · Law 109/2025/QH15, Art. 9
- 2: over 10,000,000 to 30,000,000 · 10% · Law 109/2025/QH15, Art. 9
- 3: over 30,000,000 to 60,000,000 · 20% · Law 109/2025/QH15, Art. 9
- 4: over 60,000,000 to 100,000,000 · 30% · Law 109/2025/QH15, Art. 9
- 5: over 100,000,000 · 35% · Law 109/2025/QH15, Art. 9
Optional and reference values
- Trade-union dues (employee, members only): 0.5% of the social-insurance base · Decision 61/QĐ-TLĐ (effective 1 July 2025)
- Reference level (mức tham chiếu): 2,530,000 VND, rising to 2,530,000 from 1 July 2026 · Decree 73/2024/NĐ-CP; Decree 161/2026/NĐ-CP
- Zone I minimum wage: 5,310,000 VND · Decree 293/2025/NĐ-CP
- Zone II / III / IV minimum wage: 4,730,000 / 4,140,000 / 3,700,000 VND · Decree 293/2025/NĐ-CP
A note on the trade-union toggle: the union-membership fee is a fixed monthly contribution of 0.5% of the social-insurance base (reduced from 1% by Decision 61/QĐ-TLĐ on 1 July 2025), and the calculator subtracts it only from take-home pay, never from the taxable base, because it is not in the law's list of PIT-deductible items (see Section 8). The separate 2% of payroll that an employer pays to the trade-union fund is not a deduction from your salary at all.
New from the 2026 tax period (Decree 253/2026/ND-CP): in-country medical expenses within the health-insurance service scope (up to 23,000,000 VND/year) and in-country education-training expenses (up to 24,000,000 VND/year) — combined up to 47,000,000 VND/year for the taxpayer and registered dependants — can be deducted at the year-end tax settlement (quyet toan) with valid invoices, per current guidance. Monthly withholding, and therefore this calculator, does not include them. With one dependant and the full 47 million documented, PIT effectively starts above about 28.6 million VND/month at settlement.
4. Worked examples
Each example follows a real person through the full gross-to-net flow. The figures are the exact output of the calculator above, showing the gross → insurance → taxable income → PIT → net chain so you can verify every step.
One difference from many “gross to net” tools: simpler calculators apply the personal deduction to gross and skip the 10.5% insurance step, or treat insurance as charged on the full salary even above the cap. We subtract insurance first (on its correct capped base), exactly as the law requires, so both the taxable income and the net figure are accurate. Where another tool's net looks different from ours for the same gross, this is almost always why.
Example A: a factory technician in Ha Noi checks her take-home pay
Mai is a technician at a manufacturing plant in Ha Noi (Zone I) earning 20,000,000 VND (20 million) a month, and she supports one dependant, her mother. She wants to know what actually reaches her bank account.
Inputs: gross 20,000,000 VND/month · 1 dependant · Zone I · tax resident · not a union member.
Result: Mai takes home 17,900,000 VND a month, a net of 89.50% of gross. Her whole deduction is the 10.5% insurance; the family deductions wipe out her taxable income entirely, so she pays no PIT.
Basis: Law 41/2024/QH15 Art. 33 (BHXH 8%); Employment Law 74/2025/QH15 (BHTN 1%); Law 109/2025/QH15 Art. 10 + Resolution 110/2025/UBTVQH15 (deductions).
Example B: a project lead in Hai Phong who is a union member
Hung is a project lead at a company in Hai Phong (Zone II) earning 40,000,000 VND (40 million) a month. He supports two dependants, his two children, and he is a member of the company trade union, so the 0.5% union fee applies.
Inputs: gross 40,000,000 VND/month · 2 dependants · Zone II · tax resident · union member.
Result: Hung takes home 35,205,000 VND a month, a net of 88.01% of gross. Notice that the 200,000 union fee reduced his net but not his tax: his PIT is still calculated on 7,900,000, the same as it would be without the union membership.
Basis: Law 41/2024/QH15 Art. 33 (BHXH); Law 109/2025/QH15 Art. 9 (Band 1, 5%); Decision 61/QĐ-TLĐ (0.5% union rate); Official Letter 1756/TCT-TNCN 2017 (union dues not PIT-deductible).
Example C: a foreign engineer on a short assignment in Ho Chi Minh City
David is a foreign engineer posted to Ho Chi Minh City for a short project of under 183 days, earning 60,000,000 VND (60 million) a month. Because he is in Vietnam for less than 183 days in the tax year, he is treated as a non-resident, and the calculator's Foreigner toggle applies the flat non-resident rule.
Inputs: gross 60,000,000 VND/month · Zone I · non-resident (Foreigner toggle).
Result: David takes home 48,000,000 VND a month, a net of 80.00% of gross, because non-resident employment income is taxed at a single flat 20% with no deductions and no insurance.
Note: the Foreigner toggle applies the flat 20% on gross. A non-resident present part of the year may, on annual finalisation, have the liability apportioned by days present; for a formal filing confirm with a licensed practitioner.
Basis: Law 109/2025/QH15 (non-resident flat 20% on Vietnam-source employment income).
5. Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between gross and net salary in Vietnam?
Gross salary (lương gross) is the figure in your labour contract, before deductions. Net salary (lương net, lương thực nhận) is what reaches your account after compulsory insurance of 10.5% and personal income tax are removed. For a resident, gross minus 10.5% insurance, minus PIT (after the 15,500,000 personal deduction and 6,200,000 per dependant), equals net. The gap between the two is usually 10% to 20% of gross, widening as salary rises because the higher PIT bands take more.
What is the net pay on a 30 million gross salary in Vietnam?
About 26,592,500 VND a month for a resident with one dependant in Zone I. The steps: insurance is 10.5% of 30,000,000 = 3,150,000; taxable income is 30,000,000 − 3,150,000 − 15,500,000 − 6,200,000 = 5,150,000; PIT is 5,150,000 × 5% = 257,500; net is 30,000,000 − 3,150,000 − 257,500 = 26,592,500. The exact figure shifts with the number of dependants and your minimum-wage zone, so use the calculator for your own case.
How much insurance is deducted from my salary?
A total of 10.5% of your contribution-base salary: 8% social insurance (BHXH), 1.5% health insurance (BHYT), and 1% unemployment insurance (BHTN). Social and health insurance are charged only up to 20 times the reference level (50,600,000 VND from 1 July 2026 under Decree 161/2026/ND-CP; 46,800,000 through 30 June 2026), while unemployment insurance is charged up to 20 times the regional minimum wage (106,200,000 VND in Zone I). Below 50.6 million gross, all three apply to your full salary, so it is a flat 10.5%.
Why is my net salary so much lower than my gross?
Two reasons stack up: compulsory insurance takes a flat 10.5% off the top, and personal income tax then applies to what remains after deductions. At low salaries the deductions (15,500,000 personal, plus 6,200,000 per dependant) often cancel the tax entirely, so the only gap is the 10.5% insurance. As gross rises, more income crosses into the higher PIT bands (up to 35%), so the net percentage falls. The calculator shows the exact split between insurance, tax, and take-home for any salary.
Are trade-union dues compulsory, and do they reduce my tax?
No on both counts for the employee. Union membership is optional; if you join, the fee is 0.5% of your social-insurance base, deducted alongside BHXH/BHYT/BHTN. It reduces your take-home pay but is not on the law's list of PIT-deductible items, so it does not lower your taxable income or your tax. The separate 2% of payroll that employers pay to the union fund is the employer's cost, not a deduction from your salary.
How is a foreigner's salary taxed in Vietnam?
It depends on residency. A foreigner who is a tax resident (in Vietnam 183 days or more in the tax year) is taxed exactly like a Vietnamese resident: progressive bands with the personal and dependant deductions. A non-resident (under 183 days) is taxed at a flat 20% on Vietnam-source employment income with no deductions, and a short-term non-resident is generally not enrolled in compulsory insurance. The calculator's Foreigner toggle models the flat 20% non-resident case.
Does the net salary change in the middle of 2026?
It did — on 1 July 2026. The reference level that caps social and health insurance rose from 2,340,000 to 2,530,000 VND (Decree 161/2026/ND-CP), lifting the BHXH + BHYT cap from 46,800,000 to 50,600,000 VND. Anyone earning above the old cap pays slightly more insurance (and takes home slightly less) from July onwards. The calculator uses the current 50,600,000 cap. For salaries below the cap, nothing changes.
What is the highest salary before insurance stops increasing?
Social and health insurance stop rising once gross reaches 50,600,000 VND a month (20 times the 2,530,000 reference level (from 1 Jul 2026)), because the base is capped there. Above that, your BHXH and BHYT are fixed at 8% and 1.5% of 50,600,000, while only unemployment insurance keeps climbing on the full salary, up to its own cap of 106,200,000 VND in Zone I. This is why a very high earner's insurance is less than a flat 10.5% of gross.
6. Common scenarios and edge cases
- Salary at or below 50,600,000 (the common case). All three insurances apply to the full salary, so deductible insurance is exactly 10.5% of gross. This covers the large majority of employees.
- Salary above the insurance cap (over 50,600,000). Social and health insurance freeze at 8% and 1.5% of 50,600,000; only unemployment insurance keeps rising (up to 106,200,000 in Zone I). The calculator splits the bases automatically, so the insurance figure is below a flat 10.5%.
- Mid-2026 reference-level change. On 1 July 2026 the cap rose to 50,600,000 as the reference level moved to 2,530,000 (Decree 161/2026/ND-CP), nudging high earners' net pay down slightly. The calculator uses the current 50,600,000 cap.
- Union member. Add 0.5% of the social-insurance base as a deduction from take-home pay only. It does not change your PIT.
- Non-resident foreigner. Flat 20% on gross, no deductions, no insurance, via the Foreigner toggle. A resident foreigner (183+ days) is taxed like a Vietnamese resident.
- A bonus or 13th-month salary. Bonuses are taxed in the month they are paid and are excluded from the insurance base. They are not part of this monthly-salary calculation; use the dedicated 13th-Month / Tet Bonus calculator.
- Multiple employers. This calculator assumes a single labour contract. With two employers, each withholds separately and you reconcile through an annual finalisation, so the result can differ.
- Income that is not salary. These figures cover employment income only. Business, capital-gains, securities, real-estate-transfer, royalty, inheritance and lottery income follow different rules and are out of scope.
7. Key terms
8. Legal basis and sources
Every figure on this page traces to the primary Vietnamese legal text. Links go to the National Legal Portal (phapluat.gov.vn) — the Ministry of Justice portal HAPRI uses as its source of record — with a full-text link to the National Legal Database (vbpl.vn) alongside.
9. Methodology, scope and disclaimer
This page and the calculator above model the 2026 tax year for the common employee case: a resident or foreign worker on a single labour contract, subject to compulsory insurance. They compute monthly net pay as gross minus the 10.5% employee insurance (on its correct capped base), minus PIT on income remaining after the personal and dependant deductions, minus optional trade-union dues. They do not model business income, capital gains, securities or real-estate transfers, royalties, inheritance, gifts, or lottery winnings, and they assume one employer.
The non-resident (Foreigner) path applies a flat 20% to gross salary and skips insurance and deductions, consistent with a short-term assignment not enrolled in Vietnam's compulsory scheme. Bonuses and 13th-month salary are excluded from the insurance base and are handled by the separate 13th-Month / Tet Bonus calculator, not here.
The calculator is an estimation aid, not professional tax advice. For a formal filing, consult a licensed Vietnamese tax practitioner or the General Department of Taxation (Tổng cục Thuế). HAPRI is an independent research institute and has no commercial interest in your result; the tool is free and the full methodology is published so you can audit every number.
10. About this calculator
HAPRI (the Health and Agricultural Policy Research Institute) builds free, openly-documented tools to make Vietnamese public policy legible to the people it affects. This Gross-to-Net Salary calculator is part of a suite of seven covering personal income tax, take-home pay, pensions and social insurance. The math is version-controlled, tested against the primary law, and refreshed from a live constants database, so the figures here stay in step with the statute as it changes. The same insurance and tax engine drives the Personal Income Tax and Net-to-Gross calculators, so results are consistent across the suite.
11. Related HAPRI calculators
- Personal Income Tax calculator — monthly personal income tax under the 2026 five-band schedule (Law 109/2025/QH15).
- Net-to-Gross (gross-up) calculator — work back from a target take-home figure to the gross an employer must offer.
- 13th-Month / Tet Bonus tax calculator — the tax on a Tet bonus or 13th-month salary, comparing lump-sum vs spread payment.
- Pension calculator — your monthly retirement pension under Social Insurance Law 41/2024/QH15.
- Lump-Sum Social Insurance (BHXH) calculator — a one-time social-insurance (BHXH) withdrawal versus waiting for a monthly pension.
- Unemployment Insurance calculator — the monthly jobseeker benefit and how many months it lasts.