The US–Vietnam treaty was signed and never entered into force. Plan as if there is none.
A US–Vietnam income tax treaty was signed in 2015 but has not entered into force, so no treaty relief is available today. Vietnamese personal income tax is progressive to 35% and creditable, there is no totalization agreement, and US self-employment tax applies in full.
Tax snapshot — Vietnam
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Sources: IRS Publication 54; IRS Publication 901; US Treasury treaty status list; SSA totalization agreement list; Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Checked 28 August 2026.
What that means on your return
Signed is not in force. Until ratification is complete there is no treaty position to claim, no reduced withholding and no tie-breaker — only the ordinary foreign tax credit for Vietnamese tax paid. Anyone telling you otherwise is reading the signature page, not the status.
Vietnamese tax residence turns on days present and on having a permanent residence in the country, and non-residents are taxed at a flat rate on Vietnam-sourced employment income. Which side of that line you fall on changes the credit available on your US return.
Manufacturing, sourcing and teaching are the common postings here, and a large share are self-employed or contracted through an offshore entity. With no totalization agreement, 15.3% SECA applies to net self-employment income whatever the exclusion does to the income tax.
If you are in Vietnam as a…
Questions I get about Vietnam
Is there a US–Vietnam tax treaty I can rely on?
No. One was signed in 2015 but it has not entered into force, so there is no treaty relief to claim. You credit the Vietnamese tax you actually pay on Form 1116 instead.
I am contracted through a company outside Vietnam. Does that change my US position?
It can change the character of the income and whether it is self-employment income, which decides the 15.3% SECA question. It rarely changes the obligation to file. Bring the contract to the call.
Should I claim the exclusion or the foreign tax credit in Vietnam?
It turns on your effective local rate. Where local tax is high the credit usually beats the exclusion and leaves your income counted for IRA purposes; where it is low the exclusion usually wins. Revoking the exclusion binds you for five years without IRS consent, so it is decided deliberately — that comparison is what the position review is for.
When is my return due?
15 June, under the automatic extension for filers living abroad. Form 4868 moves it to 15 October, and I file the extension free.
Do I have to file an FBAR for my Vietnamese bank account?
If your foreign accounts together passed $10,000 at any point in the year, yes. You can file it free through FinCEN's own system. The non-willful penalty for not filing is $16,536.
I have not filed for several years. What now?
The Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures: three returns, six FBARs and Form 14653 certifying non-willfulness. Penalties are waived. Note that the IRS terminated the separate Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures around 1 July 2026.
Filing from Vietnam this year?
Twenty minutes with the Enrolled Agent who will prepare and sign it. Complete return, $599.
An IRS Enrolled Agent working only on US tax for Americans living abroad. I prepare and sign every return myself — 17 years in practice, 12 of them as an Enrolled Agent.