Vietnam’s New Crypto Tax Plan: What It Means for Traders

Vietnam is drafting a rule that will treat cryptocurrency moves like stock trades, adding a small tax to every transfer. The proposed law says anyone who sends crypto through an approved service will owe 0. 1% of the transfer value as personal income tax, just like traders pay when they buy or sell shares. This fee applies to all people who do the transfer, no matter if they live in Vietnam or abroad. The draft also says that crypto trades do not pay value‑added tax, but they will still be taxed on their turnover. For businesses that trade crypto, the rule changes again: they must pay a 20% corporate tax on profits from these trades. Profit is calculated after the cost of buying the crypto and any related expenses are subtracted. The government has also given a clear definition of what counts as crypto: digital items that use encryption or similar tech to create, store and confirm ownership.If a company wants to open a crypto exchange in Vietnam, it must bring in at least 10 trillion dong (about $408 million) of capital. That amount is higher than the requirement for banks and far above what most other businesses need to start up. Only up to 49% of an exchange can be owned by foreigners, the rest must stay Vietnamese. These rules come as Vietnam is launching a five‑year pilot program for a regulated crypto market, set to start in September 2025. By early October 2025 the Ministry of Finance said no firms had applied to join the pilot, saying the high capital bar and strict rules were a big hurdle. In late October the State Securities Commission opened the door for companies to apply for licenses that will allow them to run crypto trading platforms. The first applications are expected to be accepted on January 20, 2026, as part of a broader push to bring crypto under formal oversight.