Plan contractor hiring in Vietnam

Engage the Vietnam-resident provider through a services agreement, pay against agreed deliverables, and establish the provider's individual-business registration and tax status before billing starts. Vietnam's 2026 individual-business regime places revenue declaration, records, and the applicable taxes on the provider. Total annual business revenue of VND 1 billion is the main threshold to monitor across customers because it changes the VAT and personal-income-tax calculation. From 1 January 2026, compulsory social insurance applies to a household-business owner only when declared annual revenue exceeds VND 1 billion. An owner at or below that level may join voluntarily; from 1 July 2029, all registered owners enter compulsory coverage. Check any exclusion or concurrent employment coverage separately. Keep that owner obligation separate from the foreign customer's fee. Record deliverables, acceptance, correction duties and the payment date, while leaving daily methods and working arrangements to the provider.

Sources: Government of Vietnam, Decree 68/2026 on individual-business tax, Government of Vietnam, Decree 141/2026 amending individual-business tax thresholds, Government of Vietnam, Decree 158/2025 on compulsory social insurance, National Assembly of Vietnam, Social Insurance Law 41/2024/QH15, Vietnam Official Gazette, Labor Code 45/2019/QH14

If the line is crossed

If the working facts form a labor contract, the individual can acquire employee status and the engagement can require a compliant labor contract instead of contractor treatment. For a Vietnamese citizen, an indefinite labor contract or a fixed term of at least one month enters compulsory social insurance even when the agreement has another title. Wage, working-time, leave, discipline, and termination questions then replace the service-only analysis. The foreign customer's institutional position needs a separate nexus review because the Social Insurance Law expressly names foreign organizations operating in Vietnam, while this customer has no local entity or permanent establishment. Stop employer-style direction before continuing the engagement and obtain advice on any employee registration, contributions, and historic correction.

Sources: Vietnam Official Gazette, Labor Code 45/2019/QH14, National Assembly of Vietnam, Social Insurance Law 41/2024/QH15, Ministry of Home Affairs, recognition of a labor contract

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Household-business registration certificate

The household-business registration certificate is the primary tax and business identity document for a contractor using a registered household business. It also operates as the household's tax-registration certificate, and the printed household-business code comes from the tax-registration system. Request a current copy before accepting the first invoice, then match the registered name, address, code, owner, and business line to the services agreement. Recheck it after an address, owner, or business-line change. The certificate confirms registration and tax identity. It does not grant an occupational license, establish independent-contractor classification, or decide whether a particular service invoice can use any special VAT wording.

Issued by: Commune-level business registration authority to the registered household business

Timing: After successful household-business registration and before the first service invoice is accepted

Sources: Government of Vietnam, Decree 168/2025 on business registration

Establish the provider's electronic-invoice status and any statutory exception before agreeing which bill finance will accept. Household and individual businesses have specific user rules alongside the general obligation to invoice service sales. An eligible provider below VND 1 billion in annual revenue may register when it needs electronic invoices; registration must precede use. Check that status separately from the tax exemption and the service category. For a direct-method provider, the electronic sales invoice fits services supplied abroad. An offshore customer address alone cannot establish VAT export treatment: consumption outside Vietnam and the provider's tax method must also fit the requested tax wording.

Sources: Government of Vietnam, Decree 254/2026 on electronic invoices, Office of the National Assembly, Consolidated VAT Law 114/VBHN-VPQH, Government of Vietnam, Decree 141/2026 amending individual-business tax thresholds, Vietnam Tax Department, household-business electronic-invoice guidance

What an invoice has to show

• Household seller code and genuine overseas buyer identity

  The household seller's registered name and tax-linked code must match the electronic sales invoice, alongside the genuine foreign customer's name and address. Supply a Vietnamese buyer tax code only if the customer has one. Reconcile the invoice type, number, service and total to the actual seller's registration and contract, including the tax-authority code where required. The foreign customer does not have to digitally sign the invoice merely because the seller issues it electronically. Avoid forcing a deduction-method VAT-invoice template onto a direct-method sales invoice. Return fabricated local buyer codes or unexplained seller changes for correction before finance books the document.

  Sources: Government of Vietnam, Decree 254/2026 on electronic invoices

• Vietnamese service description tied to the deliverable

  The invoice must state the service name in Vietnamese and describe the actual service supplied. Tie that wording to the contract milestone, accepted work portion, or service period so the customer can reconcile performance and billing. A service invoice does not need a unit-of-measure field, while any quantity should reflect the relevant service instance or agreed billing unit. Keep any additional language secondary to the accurate Vietnamese description. Avoid generic wording that hides whether the item is consulting, design, development, translation, research, or another service, so the contractor can classify the actual service for tax and the customer can identify the deliverable it is paying for.

  Sources: Government of Vietnam, Decree 254/2026 on electronic invoices

• Issue date based on service completion or earlier consideration

  The invoice date must follow service completion, completion of an identifiable service portion, or an earlier qualifying receipt during performance. The current rule applies even when the service is supplied to a foreign organization or individual and even when the fee remains unpaid at completion. A qualifying Civil Code security deposit is excluded from the earlier-receipt trigger, so document the legal purpose of any deposit rather than relying on its label. Match the issue date to acceptance records, milestone evidence, and the service period. A customer approval workflow cannot postpone the contractor's statutory invoice time after the service has already been completed under the agreed acceptance mechanics.

  Sources: Government Policy Portal, foreign commission service invoice guidance, Government of Vietnam, Decree 254/2026 on electronic invoices

Pay by the date agreed for the completed service or milestone, and agree the invoice process before work begins. The invoice issue date and the commercial due date can differ: a registered electronic-invoice user may need to issue at completion even though the customer's payment follows later. Individual-business revenue also includes service consideration earned but still unpaid. Define acceptance evidence, review time, the invoice recipient and how to notify a disputed amount in the contract. Finance should match the bill to the accepted work and current seller identity, then pay the undisputed amount on the agreed date. Keep corrections tied to the original service record instead of quietly changing completion dates.

Sources: Government of Vietnam, Decree 68/2026 on individual-business tax, Government Policy Portal, foreign commission service invoice guidance

The currency on the invoice

VND or a freely convertible foreign currency accepted by the permitted Vietnamese credit institution can be used for the cross-border current transaction. Confirm the contractor's receiving arrangements and agree the currency before fixing the fee, including who bears conversion costs. For a lawful foreign-currency transaction, the electronic invoice identifies the currency and displays the VND exchange rate required by tax-administration rules. Keep that tax conversion distinct from the amount the customer owes under the contract. The contractor should establish the applicable tax exchange rate before invoicing, and finance should reconcile the contract currency, invoice figures and receipt record. Currency permission alone does not establish VAT export status.

Sources: State Bank of Vietnam, currency for cross-border service payments, Government of Vietnam, Decree 254/2026 on electronic invoices

Local currency rules

Foreign-currency service-export proceeds must reach the resident contractor's foreign-currency account at a permitted credit institution in Vietnam within the contract or payment-document timeline. Keeping part or all of those proceeds offshore requires the State Bank's permission. The receiving institution must check and retain documents appropriate to the actual foreign-exchange transaction, so ask it for the required evidence before the first receipt. Have the contractor prepare the service agreement, invoice and acceptance record in a form that explains the amount and customer. Agree a response owner for document queries. This account requirement does not itself require immediate conversion into VND; confirm the receiving account before the customer pays.

Sources: Government of Vietnam, Decree 70/2014 on foreign exchange

Measuring the VND 1 billion boundary customer by customer

The VND 1 billion tax boundary uses total annual business revenue, so checking only fees from this customer can preserve the wrong VAT and personal-income-tax assumptions. Ask the contractor to monitor aggregate revenue across customers and activities and to report a change that affects the agreed tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive price. A crossing triggers a fresh tax calculation for the actual service category. Establish invoice status separately during onboarding and refresh it when the provider's circumstances change. Keep the notification narrow: the contractor owns the revenue calculation and tax filing, while finance needs enough current information to check the bill and agreed amount.

Sources: Government of Vietnam, Decree 68/2026 on individual-business tax, Government of Vietnam, Decree 141/2026 amending individual-business tax thresholds

Accepting generic, cash-timed, or mismatched invoices

A registered electronic-invoice user's invoice should identify the real registered seller and offshore customer, describe the service in Vietnamese, and use the performance-based issue date. Reject a fabricated Vietnamese buyer tax code, a seller identity that does not match the certificate, a generic service label, or an invoice held until cash arrives after completed work. Reconcile the service period or milestone, acceptance evidence, currency, exchange rate when required, VAT treatment, and total. Avoid automatic export-service zero-rate wording because the foreign address alone does not establish consumption outside Vietnam and does not settle the direct-method question for an individual business. Resolve the tax wording before the document enters the customer's books.

Sources: Government of Vietnam, Decree 254/2026 on electronic invoices, Office of the National Assembly, Consolidated VAT Law 114/VBHN-VPQH, Government Policy Portal, foreign commission service invoice guidance