Denied exit from Vietnam

I worked for an Australian Company who engaged a Singapore  Employment agent who in turn engaged a Vietnamese Employment Agent. I had to register with the Vietnamese Govt Tax Dept and had a Personal Tax File Number. The tax due to the Vietnamese Govt was  paid on my behalf by the Vietnamese Agent. It was convoluted as the Tax papers had to be in both Vietnamese and English. It all worked out ok and I was free to come and go each rotation. My VN agent did try to skim 1% off but backed off when challenged

Thanks for the reply.
My issue is a foreign company has not paid the money and the tax office is holding all the foreign employee personally responsible!
This is despite us not having any mechanism to pay it at the time.
The logic is difficult to understand from a western freedom point of view.
The obligation was on the employer.
They had the only mechanism to pay.
They did not pay.
Now hold the individual until the employer pays it.
The employer sits back at home offshore with not a care in the world.

Wow!!!   ..so that's how we can all get permanent residence..?

( Get (an) employer to (not) pay taxes: Salvation for Expats!!! )

Problem solved!    We have (yet another) new Hero...   

The company is responsible for withholding the taxes that you ultimately owe.  In other words, the tax liability is not imposed on the company.  Rather, the liability is imposed on you as an individual who is earning gross income from working in Vietnam.  The withholding mechanism increases the chances that the Gov't receives the money and that they receive it on a regular basis.  You are still responsible for filing and paying the taxes that you owe.  This is how it's done almost everywhere in the world.

So what happens if the company does not forward the taxes onto the authority?
In western countries the individual is not held accountable for taxes not paid by the company.

ksr2x wrote:

The company is responsible for withholding the taxes that you ultimately owe.  In other words, the tax liability is not imposed on the company.  Rather, the liability is imposed on you as an individual who is earning gross income from working in Vietnam.  The withholding mechanism increases the chances that the Gov't receives the money and that they receive it on a regular basis.  You are still responsible for filing and paying the taxes that you owe.  This is how it's done almost everywhere in the world.

That's news to me.If you can prove that tax has been taken out of your salary and not paid, then the company is liable. Not sure where this everywhere else is, but in most Western countries it doesn't work the way you mentioned.

BTW, do you have statements of income showing tax deductions by your former company.

Cut the Logic, Col...

..some of us just wanna stay here..!!!     

@colinoscapee, you're right, in western countries I'm sure that if you show clear evidence that the employer withheld money from your paycheck for purposes of paying taxes on your behalf, then you'll be off the hook.  Not sure if Vietnam has guidance on this since Vietnam's modern legal infrastructure is still evolving.

Appears that Vietnam is applying this Decree (No. 83/2013/NĐ-CP) to op:

Article 40. Discharging tax liabilities when exiting.

1. The Vietnamese people that leave Vietnam to reside abroad, the Vietnamese people that
reside abroad and foreign must discharge tax liabilities before exiting Vietnam.

2. The taxpayers mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article must be have the discharge of tax
liabilities certified by tax authorities before exiting Tax authorities shall certify the discharge
of tax liabilities in writing at the request of taxpayers.

3. The immigration agencies shall suspend the exit of an individual when receiving a written
notice or email from the tax authority about the undischarged tax liabilities.

If op hasn't done so yet, I'd go to the local provincial tax authority office to understand what they have on file, including the amount of taxes deposited under op's tax ID number.  Hopefully they're simply looking for a final tax return.  If op has payroll stubs showing payroll taxes being withheld, then I would try claiming them as using those stubs as proof.  If tax obligation goes back many years, I would consider hiring a local tax attorney to assist.

Thanks,
That was very similar to the advice I got but dealing with the tax authority has been very difficult and time consuming.

Yogi is assuming that those working here have a work permit that is recorded with immigration .???

Is that the case.

I know people that work here legally that have never mentioned being pulled up at the airport and asked about their Tax liabilities , is it standard procedure that they do?

Reason I'm asking, is that Aussies & Brits I know have been getting a 12 month multiple entry "Business  Visa" .  These Visa cost $450 for the approval VOA and $135 stamping at the airport on reenter .  Not a bad deal.

BUT ..it is a Business Visa and the agents are selling them with some kind of "proxy" sponsor arrangement to get around the fact that you won't need to operate a business if you don't want to OR don't intend to.   They are really meant for business operators.

When the agent explained the dodgy arrangement and said " don't you worry, is no problem" Yogi got up & politely walked away.   Im just wondering if when you exit on one of those business visas you'll be pulled up and asked for financials, Tax records etc. 

You don't need that BS when you've got a plane waiting .

Yogi007 wrote:

Yogi is assuming that those working here have a work permit that is recorded with immigration .???

Is that the case.

I know people that work here legally that have never mentioned being pulled up at the airport and asked about their Tax liabilities , is it standard procedure that they do?

Reason I'm asking, is that Aussies & Brits I know have been getting a 12 month multiple entry "Business  Visa" .  These Visa cost $450 for the approval VOA and $135 stamping at the airport on reenter .  Not a bad deal.

BUT ..it is a Business Visa and the agents are selling them with some kind of "proxy" sponsor arrangement to get around the fact that you won't need to operate a business if you don't want to OR don't intend to.   They are really meant for business operators.

When the agent explained the dodgy arrangement and said " don't you worry, is no problem" Yogi got up & politely walked away.   Im just wondering if when you exit on one of those business visas you'll be pulled up and asked for financials, Tax records etc. 

You don't need that BS when you've got a plane waiting .

Most people who get or have the DN visa don't work or have a tax number, therefore there isn't a problem.

It will depend on the situation each person enters Vietnam under.
My case was as a foreign employee working for a foreign registered company in Vietnam for greater than 183 days in a year so I was regarded as a Vietnamese Resident for tax purposes.
In my case my employer did not do as required under the law of Vietnam, but told us it was doing everything on our behalf and did not properly advise us of the situation and consequences.
It just goes to show that working in a foreign country carry's more risk than working locally due to your knowledge of the laws.

It sounds very strange to me, If you can show them a payslip stating that the company has deducted the PIT, there taken over the responsibility to pay it to the tax department, as requested by law.
It ought to be the same procedure as for Social Insurance, where there are numerous companies, which have been fined or even closed, as they failed to pay own share and employees share – both local and foreign companies have been involved in such cases.
The ‘problem’ in Vietnam, is that the implementation of laws are not the same in all provinces. Where in Vietnam was/is your ex-employer registered and which in which airport did the immigration stamt non-exit in your passport?

The company had no presence in Vietnam anymore so the tax office let there office in Melbourne know of the issue but no-one let the ex employees know so when one unlucky chap went to leave  after a short holiday in Vietnam he was denied exit. So no stamps, no notifications, just a
The Vietnamese authorities were doing what was within their rights to do. I feel my ex employer did no behave well which just forced the issue onto the ex employees. I dont think the authorities wanted to deal with us direct as it took away the pressure from the company.
Hopefully it is being resolved right now and will be sorted prior to TET so I can get out for a break.

Bazza139 wrote:

Wow!!!   ..so that's how we can all get permanent residence..?

( Get (an) employer to (not) pay taxes: Salvation for Expats!!! )

Problem solved!    We have (yet another) new Hero...   

It could (also)  include (free)  room with meals, but of a (very) basic and spartan kind that may not( necessarily) meet your standards of comfort or cuisine.

He, He,  ..you obviously don't know how low I can go...   

..or, how many cockroaches can you call personal friends..?

"Hopefully it is being resolved right now and will be sorted prior to TET so I can get out for a break."

For the  past couple of years my husband has been working for a non-profit foreign entity here in  Vietnam. The company does not withold our Vietnam taxes directly.  We are expected to figure out what they are and then alert the company as to the amount so that the company can then pay the tax due on our behalf.

We manage this by engaging the help of a reputable tax accounting firm.  We met with the accountant.  She set up our tax registration and she keeps us apprised of the quarterly documentation we need to submit and submits that to the government, prepares our tax return and coordinates and documents the payment of them by the non-profit.  She also managed back taxes payments that were due because we initiated contact with her later than we should have.

My husband regularly leaves and re-enters the country as part of his work and has had no difficulty doing so.

If you have the means to engage a good tax accountant, you may wish to consider that. It worked for us when, early in our time here, we discovered that we had tax payments that were overdue.

All sorted now.
My lawyer convinced my ex employer to pay the taxes as due and it has been done and the exit ban has been lifted.

Thats good news and a weight off your shoulders. Life shouldnt be so damn complicated. 😎

..speak for yerself, Col...     

Great news. Bon voyage!