According to Mr. Nguyen The Xuan's reference, Article 2 of Circular No. 119/2014/TT-BTC dated August 25, 2014, issued by the Ministry of Finance, states: "For non-resident individuals, taxable income is income earned in Vietnam, regardless of where the income is paid and received."

Mr. Xuan asked, "How should 'income earned in Vietnam' be understood in this context?" For example, if a foreign individual who is not a resident in Vietnam sells goods for a Vietnamese company in other countries such as Australia or the United States, can the income paid by the Vietnamese company be considered as income earned in Vietnam?

Based on Article 2 of Circular No. 119/2014/TT-BTC dated August 25, 2014, amending and supplementing Sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Article 1 of Circular No. 111/2013/TT-BTC dated August 15, 2013, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of the Law on Personal Income Tax, amending and supplementing some provisions of the Law on Personal Income Tax, and Decree No. 65/2013/NĐ-CP of the Government detailing some articles of the Law on Personal Income Tax and amending and supplementing some provisions of the Law on Personal Income Tax:

"Article 2. Amending and supplementing Sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Article 1 of Circular No. 111/2013/TT-BTC dated August 15, 2013, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of the Law on Personal Income Tax, amending and supplementing some provisions of the Law on Personal Income Tax, and Decree No. 65/2013/NĐ-CP of the Government detailing some articles of the Law on Personal Income Tax and amending and supplementing some provisions of the Law on Personal Income Tax as follows:

"Article 1. Taxpayers

Taxpayers are individuals who are resident and non-resident individuals as defined in Article 2 of the Law on Personal Income Tax, Article 2 of the Government's Decree No. 65/2013/ND-CP dated June 27, 2013 detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Personal Income Tax and amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Personal Income Tax (referred to hereafter as Decree No. 65/2013/ND-CP), who have taxable income under the provisions of Article 3 of the Law on Personal Income Tax and Article 3 of Decree No. 65/2013/ND-CP.

The scope of determining taxable income of taxpayers is as follows:

For resident individuals, taxable income includes income earned within and outside the territory of Vietnam, regardless of where the income is paid;

For individuals who are citizens of countries or territories that have signed agreements with Vietnam to avoid double taxation and prevent tax evasion on income taxes and are residents in Vietnam, the obligation to pay personal income tax is calculated from the month of arrival in Vietnam in the case of the individual's first presence in Vietnam until the month in which the labor contract ends and the individual leaves Vietnam (counted in full months), without having to carry out consular confirmation procedures to avoid double taxation according to the agreement between the two countries.

For non-resident individuals, taxable income includes income earned in Vietnam, regardless of where the income is paid and received”.

Based on the above regulations, in the case where a company in Vietnam pays income to an individual who is not a resident in Vietnam and performs work in other countries, that income shall be determined as income arising in Vietnam according to the provisions in Article 2 of Circular No. 119/2014/TT-BTC dated August 25, 2014 of the Ministry of Finance.