Moving to Vietnam From the US: Tax Guide for Americans
Last reviewed: July 20, 2026. This article reflects current IRS rules and EA exam requirements as of this date.
You're moving to Vietnam. The visa is in process. The apartment in Thao Dien is lined up. The motorbike is a problem for next week.
Here's what changes with your taxes and what to do first.
Step one: Your US filing obligation does not go away
The United States taxes citizens and green card holders on worldwide income regardless of where they live. Moving to Vietnam does not suspend your obligation to file Form 1040 every year. It does change which forms you attach and which elections you make.
You'll still file by the April 15 deadline. You'll get an automatic two-month extension to June 15 if you're living abroad on the due date, and you can request a further extension to October 15. You still pay estimated taxes if you expect to owe. The rules don't change just because your address does.
Step two: Understand when Vietnam considers you a tax resident
Vietnam's tax residency test is 183 days in country during a calendar year, or having a permanent residence registered in Vietnam. If you move mid-year, you might not trigger residency until the following year. If you sign a 12-month lease in January and stay, you're a resident in year one.
This matters because the Vietnamese tax treatment changes. Residents pay progressive rates from 5% to 35% on worldwide income. Non-residents pay a flat 20% on Vietnam-sourced income only. These two regimes produce very different results, and which one applies affects your US foreign tax credit calculation.
Don't assume you're a non-resident just because you feel like one. Vietnam's tax authorities determine residency by facts, not feelings. If you're there for a full school year teaching English, you're probably a resident. If you're there for three months on a tourist visa, you're not.
Step three: Your primary US tax tools. FEIE and FTC
You have two main defenses against double taxation. Neither requires a treaty.
The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion lets you exclude up to $132,900 of foreign earned income from US taxation for 2026. You qualify if your tax home is in Vietnam and you meet either the physical presence test (330 days outside the US in a 12-month period) or the bona fide residence test. You file Form 2555 with your return.
The FEIE only covers earned income. wages, salary, self-employment income. It does not cover investment income, rental income, pension income, or Social Security. Those are taxed by the US regardless.
The Foreign Tax Credit lets you credit Vietnamese income taxes paid against your US tax liability dollar for dollar. You file Form 1116. This is especially useful if your Vietnamese tax rate is high and you'd generate excess credits. It also preserves your ability to contribute to US retirement accounts, which the FEIE can complicate.
Which one to use depends on your income level, your Vietnamese tax bracket, and whether you want to maintain IRA eligibility. Many preparers run both calculations and pick the better result. Some years you'll use FEIE. Some years FTC. There's no permanent election. You can switch.
Step four: Vietnamese bank accounts and FBAR
Open a Vietnamese bank account and the clock starts on your FBAR obligation. If the aggregate balance across all your foreign accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year, you file FinCEN Form 114 electronically by April 15 (with an automatic extension to October 15).
FBAR is not a tax form. It's a financial reporting form filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, not the IRS. But the IRS enforces the penalties, and the penalties are not small. up to $10,000 per non-willful violation.
If you also have a Vietnamese brokerage account, Vietnamese real estate held through a corporate structure, or signing authority over a Vietnamese business account, additional FATCA reporting on Form 8938 may apply at higher thresholds.
Step five: Social Security and self-employment tax
Vietnam and the US have no totalization agreement. If you work for a Vietnamese employer, you pay into Vietnam's social insurance system and you don't pay US Social Security tax on those wages. the US exempts foreign-source wages paid by a foreign employer.
If you're self-employed in Vietnam, the story changes. You pay self-employment tax on your net self-employment income unless Vietnam has a social security system the US recognizes through a totalization agreement. It doesn't. You may end up paying into both systems. This is one of the clearest cases where a treaty would help, and one of the reasons Treasury named Vietnam as a treaty target.
Step six: Get a preparer who knows both sides
Vietnam is a no-treaty jurisdiction. Every return requires analysis. FEIE or FTC. Resident or non-resident under Vietnamese rules. Whether your Vietnamese social insurance contributions affect your US self-employment tax. Whether your Vietnamese spouse needs an ITIN. Whether that investment fund your Vietnamese bank recommended is a PFIC.
The preparer directory on the IRS website lets you search for Enrolled Agents who handle international returns. Not all of them know Vietnam specifically. Ask. The questions in our Vietnam EA finder guide will help you separate the ones who do from the ones who are learning on your return.
Related: US Citizens in Vietnam Need an EA · Why US-Vietnam Tax Work Creates EA Demand · Where to Find a US Tax EA in Vietnam · Moving to the United Kingdom From the US: Tax Guide