The title of this topic states an outdated figure, and this article must say so plainly at the outset: inheritance tax in Vietnam today is ten percent on the value exceeding twenty million dong per receipt, under the 2025 Personal Income Tax Law, not the excess over ten million dong as under the old rule. This article explains the current tax framework, the exempt inheritances between close relatives, and who must declare and pay in each situation.
Legal basis for inheritance tax in Vietnam
The current tax framework for inheritance income sits in the 2025 Personal Income Tax Law (109/2025/QH15), under which inheritance income is taxable when the received asset is securities, a capital share in an economic organisation, real estate, or another asset subject to ownership or use registration. Decree 253/2026/ND-CP details the calculation: a ten percent rate applies to the portion of the received asset’s value exceeding twenty million dong in each receipt.
The ten million dong figure in the title belongs to the old framework of the 2007 Personal Income Tax Law (04/2007/QH12), an instrument that has expired and been replaced by Law 109/2025/QH15 with a twenty million dong threshold applying to inheritance, gifts and prizes alike. This periodisation matters when taxing a specific receipt: the tax period and the time of receiving the asset decide whether the new twenty-million threshold or the old threshold at the time of arising applies.
One large group of inheritances is fully exempt: income from inheritance between spouses, between biological parents and children, adoptive parents and children, parents-in-law and daughters- or sons-in-law, grandparents and grandchildren, and between siblings is exempt under the personal income tax law. This exempt group covers most inheritances within the direct family, so inheritance tax liability in practice arises mainly for inheritances to persons outside the listed relations or by will to non-exempt persons.
Applying the rules to each question about inheritance tax in Vietnam
Must inheritance be taxed? Whether inheritance must be taxed depends on two consecutive questions: whether the received asset belongs to the registration group such as real estate, securities or capital shares, and whether the relation between the deceased and the recipient falls within the exempt group. Inheriting cash in a bank account and non-registrable assets is not subject to inheritance tax, while inheriting a house by a distant cousin outside the exempt group gives rise to tax on the value exceeding twenty million dong.
Is tax calculated on the whole amount or only the excess? Inheritance tax is calculated on the excess over the threshold, not on the asset’s entire value: an asset worth one billion dong received by a taxable person bears ten percent tax on nine hundred eighty million dong, that is ninety-eight million dong, not ten percent of the full billion. This excess-based calculation applies to each separate receipt, so an estate divided and received in several instalments following the procedure can change how the twenty-million threshold applies to each receipt.
Who declares and pays the tax? The person who declares and pays inheritance tax is the recipient of the asset, with declaration timing attached to the procedure for registering ownership or use rights at the state agency, and the notarial organisation or registration agency usually requires tax payment evidence or an exemption confirmation before completing the name transfer. A recipient abroad who is not present in Vietnam performs this duty through a lawfully authorised representative, but the final tax responsibility still belongs to the heir receiving the inheritance.
Safe steps for inheritance tax in Vietnam
- Determine whether the inherited asset belongs to the registration group and whether the recipient’s relation falls within the exempt group.
- Value the asset under the state price framework at declaration time to calculate the twenty-million excess taxed at ten percent.
- Declare tax at the tax office where the asset sits or the name transfer is registered, pay the tax or request exemption confirmation.
- Bring the tax evidence into the notarisation and name-transfer file to complete receiving the inheritance.
Common risks in inheritance tax in Vietnam
The largest practical risk on inheritance tax is calculating by the outdated ten million dong figure still circulating in many old articles and in this very topic’s title, causing families to mis-budget the tax duty when receiving high-value assets from outside the exempt group. The second risk is overlooking registration fees and charges accompanying an inherited real estate name transfer: a case exempt from personal income tax may still owe a registration fee if it does not fall within the corresponding fee exemption.
Inheritance tax in Vietnam under the current framework is ten percent on the value exceeding twenty million dong per receipt, applied to registrable assets and leaving a wide exemption circle for inheritances between the relatives listed in the law. A family holding these two figures — the twenty-million deduction threshold and the kinship exemption circle — will calculate its duty correctly instead of following the ten-million figure whose time has passed.
Frequently asked questions about inheritance tax in Vietnam
Must inheritance be taxed?
A family within the inheritance tax exemption group must still complete the exemption confirmation procedure in the name-transfer file, because exemption is a tax authority conclusion on a specific file, not a silent default of the registration procedure. Whether inheritance must be taxed depends on two consecutive questions: whether the received asset belongs to the registration group such as real estate, securities or capital shares, and whether the relation between the deceased and the recipient falls within the exempt group. Inheriting cash in a bank account and non-registrable assets is not subject to inheritance tax, while inheriting a house by a distant cousin outside the exempt group gives rise to tax on the value exceeding twenty million dong.
Is tax calculated on the whole amount or only the excess?
The taxable value of inherited real estate is determined by the land price table and price framework issued by the provincial People’s Committee at the time of tax calculation for tax purposes, so the actual tax figure can differ greatly from a figure calculated on the market price the family estimates itself. Inheritance tax is calculated on the excess over the threshold, not on the asset’s entire value: an asset worth one billion dong received by a taxable person bears ten percent tax on nine hundred eighty million dong, that is ninety-eight million dong, not ten percent of the full billion. This excess-based calculation applies to each separate receipt, so an estate divided and received in several instalments following the procedure can change how the twenty-million threshold applies to each receipt.
Who declares and pays the tax?
An heir should keep the entire inheritance tax declaration file and payment evidence together with the estate file, because when the asset is sold later, the tax authority will look back at this chain of documents to determine the tax duty of the next transfer. The person who declares and pays inheritance tax is the recipient of the asset, with declaration timing attached to the procedure for registering ownership or use rights at the state agency, and the notarial organisation or registration agency usually requires tax payment evidence or an exemption confirmation before completing the name transfer. A recipient abroad who is not present in Vietnam performs this duty through a lawfully authorised representative, but the final tax responsibility still belongs to the heir receiving the inheritance.
