Short answer: no. Vietnam has no tax-free threshold for gifts or bonuses an employer gives an employee, unlike some neighboring markets that carve out a small annual allowance. Whether it's a Lunar New Year (Tet) gift, a birthday bonus, 13th-month pay, or a performance reward, cash or non-cash, it's folded into that employee's ordinary "income from wages and salaries" and taxed at Vietnam's normal progressive personal income tax rates of 5% to 35%. There's no distinction between cash and non-cash for taxability, and no gift is small enough to fall outside the net.
Client and business-partner gifts run on a completely different set of rules, and a new VAT and payment-documentation landscape makes it worth double-checking the details before your next campaign. Here's exactly how gifts are taxed in Vietnam, for employees, for clients, and on the VAT side, so you can plan a gifting program that holds up.
Gifts and bonuses are ordinary taxable wage income
Under Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC, Article 2, Clause 2, cash or non-cash bonuses and gifts "in any form" count as ordinary employment income. That covers Tet gifts, birthday gifts, 13th-month pay, and performance bonuses alike. They're combined with the employee's regular salary and taxed at the standard progressive PIT schedule, which runs from 5% at the lowest bracket up to 35% at the top.
Crucially, Vietnamese tax law makes no distinction between cash and non-cash gifts for taxability purposes. A branded hoodie or a gift hamper is taxed exactly the same way, proportionally, as a cash bonus of equivalent value. There is no de minimis exemption, no small-gift carve-out, and no annual allowance to plan a program around: whatever the gift, whatever the occasion, it's taxable wage income from the first dong.
The separate "gift income" category doesn't apply here
Vietnam's PIT rules do have a separate, narrower category for "gift income" under Article 2, Clause 10 of Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC, and it's worth knowing about only so you don't confuse it with routine corporate gifting. That category applies exclusively to gifts of securities, capital contributions, real estate, and other registrable assets like cars, not to hoodies, notebooks, or gift hampers.
Under Vietnam's new PIT Law, effective 1 July 2026, the threshold for that narrower category rises from VND 10 million to VND 20 million per receipt. It's a genuine change, but it has no bearing on typical employee or client gifting: routine corporate gifts stay governed by the ordinary wage-income rule above, with no threshold at all.
1. Hoodie – The Rex
A heavyweight hoodie is one of the few gifts employees actually wear outside the office, which makes it a strong pick when you want the gift to double as quiet brand visibility.
- Material: heavyweight cotton-blend fleece
- Branding: embroidered or printed logo on chest/sleeve
- Order: MOQ 100 · from 1,081,000 VND/unit.
2. Sports Socks
A low-cost, high-frequency-use add-on, good as a stocking-stuffer alongside a bigger gift rather than a standalone present.
- Material: performance cotton blend
- Branding: woven logo detail
- Order: MOQ 100 · from 108,000 VND/unit.
3. Recycled Steel Bottle
A daily-use item with an obvious sustainability story, useful if your company talks about environmental responsibility anywhere in its employer branding.
- Material: recycled stainless steel
- Branding: laser engraving
- Order: MOQ 50 · from 297,000 VND/unit.
4. A5 Notebook
A safe, low-cost gift for large headcounts, and cheap enough that the wage-tax hit on it is negligible for most employees.
- Material: PU-covered hardback, recycled paper
- Branding: debossed or foil logo
- Order: MOQ 100 · from 124,000 VND/unit.
5. Premium Tote Bag
Practical enough to get daily reuse, which is the main thing that separates a gift people keep from one that ends up in a drawer.
- Material: heavyweight canvas
- Branding: printed or embroidered logo
- Order: MOQ 100 · from 174,000 VND/unit.
6. Knitted Scarf
Seasonal and genuinely warming, a good pick for a cool-season Tet gift for teams in the north, where winter temperatures actually justify one.
- Material: knitted acrylic/wool blend
- Branding: woven label
- Order: MOQ 100 · from 207,000 VND/unit.
7. Baseball Cap
An easy, low-cost apparel gift that pairs well with a bigger-ticket item in a bundled gift set.
- Material: cotton twill
- Branding: embroidered logo
- Order: MOQ 100 · from 225,000 VND/unit.
8. Espresso Mug
Desk items like this get seen by everyone who walks past, which makes them a quiet but consistent brand touchpoint.
- Material: ceramic
- Branding: printed logo
- Order: MOQ 108 · from 228,000 VND/unit.
9. Bamboo Tea Bottle
Tea culture runs deep in Vietnam, so a dedicated tea bottle tends to land better than a generic water bottle for local teams and clients.
- Material: bamboo exterior, stainless steel infuser
- Branding: laser engraving
- Order: MOQ 50 · from 505,000 VND/unit.
10. RollTop Backpack
A commuter-grade backpack is a gift with real perceived value, and the kind of item that gets used long after the season it was given in.
- Material: water-resistant recycled polyester
- Branding: embroidered logo patch
- Order: MOQ 25 · from 663,000 VND/unit.
11. Noise-Cancelling Headphones
A tech gift at this price point signals genuine investment in the employee, useful for recognizing tenure or a strong year rather than a routine holiday token.
- Material: ABS/aluminum housing, memory-foam ear cushions
- Branding: printed or debossed logo
- Order: MOQ 50 · from 660,000 VND/unit.
12. Wireless Powerbank
Practical for anyone who travels or commutes, and useful enough that it gets carried around long after the gifting occasion is forgotten.
- Material: aluminum housing
- Branding: printed logo
- Order: MOQ 50 · from 497,000 VND/unit.
Client and business-partner gifts
Client and business-partner gifts aren't taxed to the recipient the way employee gifts are, but on the giving company's side, Corporate Income Tax deductibility runs on a general three-part test: the expense must be business-related, properly invoiced and documented, and, for larger transactions, paid via a non-cash payment method.
There's no percentage cap on this expense category to worry about. The old 15% cap on advertising, marketing, promotion, reception, and entertainment expenses was abolished effective 1 January 2015 under Law 71/2014/QH13, implemented via Circular 96/2015/TT-BTC, and it has not been reinstated. As long as a gift passes the three-part test, there's no ceiling tied to revenue or expense totals.
What has changed, and it's worth flagging as a practical compliance point, is the non-cash-payment-proof threshold. Under Decree 320/2025/ND-CP (15 December 2025) and Circular 20/2026/TT-BTC (12 March 2026, applying retroactively from the 2025 tax year), the threshold for requiring bank or non-cash payment evidence on CIT-deductible expenses dropped from VND 20 million to VND 5 million per transaction. In practice, any gift purchase at or above VND 5 million now needs bank transfer or other non-cash payment evidence on file to stay deductible, a purchase that used to sail under the old VND 20 million line no longer does.
VAT on gifts and giveaways
Vietnam applies a standard VAT rate of 10%, and a "deemed sale" rule under Circular 219/2013/TT-BTC, Article 7, means gifts and giveaways don't escape it. Goods given away for free, whether to employees or clients, are not VAT-free: the giving company must declare output VAT on a deemed taxable price equal to the market price of equivalent goods, not the cost price, and not zero. This applies equally whether the gift goes to an employee or an external client or customer.
There's one meaningful exception: goods given away as part of a properly registered trade-promotion program, compliant with the Commercial Law, are taxed at a 0 VND taxable price. But that exception is narrow and procedural: a "promotion" that isn't properly registered is taxed at full market value like any ordinary gift. Input VAT on gifts purchased for business purposes stays creditable either way.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a small gift is tax-free. It isn't, there's no threshold at all in Vietnam for employer-to-employee gifts. A modest Tet gift is taxed exactly the same way, proportionally, as a large bonus: as ordinary wage income at progressive PIT rates.
- Assuming VAT doesn't apply to free gifts. It does, on market value, whether the gift goes to an employee or a client, unless it's part of a properly registered trade-promotion program under the Commercial Law.
- Buying a gift above VND 5 million in cash. Since Decree 320/2025/ND-CP and Circular 20/2026/TT-BTC, that loses the CIT deduction for lack of non-cash payment proof, a much lower bar than the old VND 20 million threshold.
This article is for general informational purposes and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Tax treatment depends on your company's specific structure, revenue, and circumstances. Consult a qualified Vietnamese tax advisor before setting a gifting policy.
For a country-by-country comparison of employee and client gift tax rules, see our complete guide to employee gift tax rules by country.
Looking to set up a compliant, well-documented branded merchandise program for your Vietnam team or clients? Talk to Sunday about sourcing, branding, and distribution that holds up on the compliance side.
