If you are a freelancer in Vietnam who earns through Upwork, or a foreign platform that pays Vietnamese sellers, the tax withholding obligation moved from the freelancer to the platform in 2026 — whether the platform has a legal presence in Vietnam or not.
Under Decree 117 and its guidance, foreign e-commerce and digital platform operators that pay Vietnamese residents must register with the tax authority, obtain a 10-digit TIN for foreign suppliers, declare and pay tax on behalf of resident sellers, and issue electronic withholding certificates. That is the same model already applied to Google and Facebook — 108 foreign suppliers were already complying — now extended explicitly to foreign platforms serving freelancers.
What Foreign Platforms Must Do
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Register and get a 10-digit TIN. The foreign supplier TIN is the same credential used for digital services VAT; platforms that already have one continue using it for withholding.
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Withhold VAT and PIT at source. For each payment to a Vietnamese resident freelancer, the platform withholds the applicable VAT on the platform's digital service and the PIT on the freelancer's earnings, using the rates prescribed for the income category — freelance service income for Vietnam tax residents without an employment contract is typically 10% PIT withholding on services.
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Issue electronic withholding certificates. Decree 117 is unspecific on how a foreign platform without a Vietnamese presence issues a certified electronic withholding certificate — whether it must contract with a certified Vietnamese provider. The requirement exists; the contracting mechanism is still being clarified, and foreign platforms are seeking guidance.
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Authorize a local representative optionally. The framework allows a foreign platform to authorize a local representative in Vietnam to handle registration, declaration, and payment — flexibility for compliance without incorporating.
Withheld taxes on cancelled transactions or returned goods may be offset against withholding on other transactions, but they must be documented per transaction, not netted informally.
What Vietnamese Freelancers Should Check
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Your Upwork earnings report now shows Vietnam VAT and PIT withheld — verify the withholding certificate against your TIN and the amounts. The certificate, not the platform statement, is the document you use for annual reconciliation.
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The withholding is not necessarily final. You must still file an annual PIT reconciliation; the withheld amount is credited against the annual liability, and over-withholding on returned or cancelled jobs is reclaimable only with the certificate.
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If you also teach or freelance outside Upwork from Vietnam, that income is combined for PIT. Many international platforms do not withhold Vietnamese taxes, requiring you to self-declare quarterly.
Simplify Your Financial Management
Vietnam's platform-withholding model makes the foreign platform your tax withholding agent — but the freelancer remains the taxpayer. Beancount.io keeps every platform payout, every withholding certificate, and every PIT advance in plain-text, version-controlled accounting — so the platform's TIN, the freelancer's TIN, and the annual return tie, not just trust. Get started for free and keep your Vietnam freelance taxes as global as your platform.