VI Every Mid-Autumn Festival, many businesses give mooncakes or other gifts to their employees as a gesture of appreciation, encouragement, and employee engagement. However, from a tax perspective, not all gifts received by employees from their employers are treated in the same manner.So, are mooncakes given by a company to its employees included in taxable income for PIT purposes? The following are some key regulations to note in 2026 to help businesses properly comply with regulations on personal income tax, invoices, and supporting documents.
1. Is mooncake gifting to employees subject to PIT in 2026? What types of gifts are subject to PIT?
To determine whether mooncakes given by a company to its employees are subject to PIT, it is first necessary to distinguish between income from gifts and benefits received by employees in connection with salaries and wages.
Under Article 15 of Decree No. 253/2026/ND-CP, taxable income from gifts as prescribed in Clause 9, Article 3 of the 2025 Law on Personal Income Tax includes:
- Income from gifts consisting of part or all of a capital contribution in a limited liability company, partnership, business cooperation contract, cooperative, cooperative union, people’s credit fund, or other organization.
- Income from gifts consisting of shares, share purchase rights; bonds, treasury bills, fund certificates, and other securities as prescribed by the law on securities; and shares of individuals in joint-stock companies as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 4 of the 2019 Law on Securities and Article 121 of the 2020 Law on Enterprises.
- Income from gifts consisting of real estate, including: land use rights; land use rights together with assets attached to land; house ownership rights, including houses under construction; infrastructure and construction works attached to land, including construction works under construction; land lease rights under land lease contracts (including land with water surfaces); water surface lease rights; and other assets classified as real estate under the law.
- Income from gifts consisting of automobiles, motorcycles, motorbikes, watercraft, including barges, canoes, tugboats, push boats, boats, including yachts, aircraft, hunting guns, sporting guns, and other assets for which ownership or use rights must be registered with a competent state authority.
Accordingly, mooncakes given as gifts to employees do not fall within the categories of gifts identified as taxable income from gifts under Article 15 of Decree No. 253/2026/ND-CP.
Therefore, mooncakes given by a company to its employees are not included in the employees’ taxable income for PIT purposes.
Note: Under Clauses 1 and 2, Article 8 of Decree No. 253/2026/ND-CP, where a gift is in the nature of salary or wages, remuneration, or monetary or non-monetary benefits received by an individual from an organization, individual, or employer in any form, such amount shall be included in taxable PIT income.
2. How should invoices be issued when giving mooncakes to employees in 2026?
In addition to the PIT treatment applicable to employees, businesses should also pay attention to their obligation to issue invoices when goods are given, donated, or presented as gifts.
The principles for the preparation, management, and use of electronic invoices and supporting documents are prescribed in Clause 1, Article 4 of Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP, as follows:
Principles for the preparation, management, and use of electronic invoices and supporting documents
1. When selling goods or providing services, the seller must issue an electronic invoice and deliver it to the purchaser, including cases where goods or services are used for promotion, advertising, or as samples; goods or services are used for giving, donating, gifting, exchanging, or paying employees in lieu of wages; goods or services are used for internal consumption; and goods are exported in the form of loans or lending, as well as other cases where invoices are required to be issued under regulations of the Minister of Finance, except for cases not required to use electronic invoices under Article 7 of this Decree.
Electronic invoices must comply with the standard data format and contain all required information in accordance with tax and accounting laws and Article 10 of this Decree, ensuring that the economic transaction is fully and accurately reflected. The seller shall be legally responsible for the accuracy of the issued invoice.
[…]Accordingly, when goods or services are used for giving, donating, or gifting, the seller must issue an electronic invoice and deliver it to the purchaser.
In addition, Section 5 of the Appendix issued together with Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP provides guidance on the issuance of invoices for mooncakes given as gifts in 2026, specifically as follows:
A business may issue an aggregated invoice for transactions arising during a month or quarter corresponding to the value-added tax (VAT) declaration period of the organization or individual selling the goods.
Organizations and individuals selling goods are responsible for ensuring that the aggregated invoice fully and accurately reflects the transactions arising during the relevant period; retaining detailed lists of goods and services used for promotion, giving, donating, or gifting, together with relevant supporting documents; and providing information and documents for tax administration purposes upon request by a competent authority.
Where a customer requests an invoice for each individual transaction, the seller must issue an invoice to the customer in accordance with regulations.
The invoice must clearly state: “Attached to statement/list No. …, dated … month … year …”
The statement/list must include the seller’s name, tax identification number, and address; the name of the goods or services; quantity; unit price; amount of goods or services sold; date of preparation; and the name and signature of the person preparing the statement/list.
Where the seller applies the VAT credit method, the statement/list must include the columns for “VAT rate” and “VAT amount.”
The total payment amount must correspond to the amount stated on the VAT invoice. Goods and services sold must be listed in the statement/list in the order in which the sales occurred during the day.
The statement/list must clearly state: “Attached to Invoice No. …, dated … month … year …”
3. Who is subject to personal income tax?
Determining whether a particular income is subject to PIT must first be based on properly identifying the taxpayer. The PIT regulations distinguish between resident individuals and non-resident individuals, while also prescribing the corresponding scope of taxable income applicable to each category.
Therefore, in addition to determining the type of income and the nature of the gift received by an individual, businesses and employees should also pay attention to the individual’s tax residency status in order to determine their PIT obligations in accordance with applicable regulations.
Under Article 2 of the 2025 Law on Personal Income Tax, taxpayers are defined as follows:
- A personal income taxpayer is a resident individual having taxable income as prescribed in Article 3 of this Law arising both within and outside the territory of Vietnam, and a non-resident individual having taxable income as prescribed in Article 3 of the 2025 Law on Personal Income Tax arising within the territory of Vietnam.
- A resident individual is an individual who satisfies one of the following conditions:
- Being present in Vietnam for 183 days or more in a calendar year or during 12 consecutive months from the first date of presence in Vietnam;
- Having a regular place of residence in Vietnam, including a registered permanent residence or a rented house in Vietnam under a lease agreement with a specified term.
- A non-resident individual is an individual who does not satisfy the conditions prescribed in Clause 2, Article 2 of the 2025 Law on Personal Income Tax.
