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Contractor of Record in Vietnam
Engage and pay Vietnamese contractors through Aniday's own Vietnamese entity
Under a Contractor of Record (COR) arrangement, Aniday LLC becomes the contracting party with your independent contractor in Vietnam. We run the Labour Code Article 13 check, sign a compliant service contract (hợp đồng dịch vụ), withhold and remit the 10% personal income tax where the law requires it, and pay in VND — while your contractor keeps working directly with your team. You get the talent without a Vietnamese entity, and without the disguised-employment risk sitting on your books.
Not sure whether the role is a contractor or an employee? Read the Doing Business in Vietnam guide, or compare with EOR in Vietnam for full-time hires.
Vietnam's employment Snapshot
What is a Contractor of Record in Vietnam?
Vietnam looks at substance, not labels. Article 13 of the Labour Code 2019 says an agreement is a labour contract (hợp đồng lao động) — whatever it is called — if it involves paid work, wages, and management, direction and supervision by one party. A genuine contractor works under a service contract (hợp đồng dịch vụ) governed by the Civil Code. A Contractor of Record is a local company — Aniday LLC — that signs that service contract with the contractor on your behalf, applies the Article 13 test, withholds and remits tax as a Vietnamese payer must, and carries the classification liability.
COR is the right fit for genuinely independent work: project-based specialists, part-time advisers, fractional roles and consultants who set their own hours and serve other clients. If the role is full-time, supervised and permanent, it is employment — use Employer of Record in Vietnam instead. We tell you which one applies before you sign anything.
Aniday Vietnam
Our Address: 5th Floor, Pax Sky Building, 144-146-148 Le Lai Street, Ben Thanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
(contracting party, payer, withholding agent, compliance owner)
What Aniday's Contractor of Record covers in Vietnam
Everything between "we found the person" and "the person has been paid, on time, with the right paperwork".
Classification check against Labour Code Article 13
Before onboarding we test the role for the three markers of a labour relationship — paid work, wages, and management, direction and supervision — plus fixed hours, exclusivity and integration into your team. If the answer is "employee", we say so and route the role to EOR.
A compliant service contract, signed by Aniday LLC
A bilingual Vietnamese–English hợp đồng dịch vụ under the Civil Code: deliverables, fees, confidentiality, non-exclusivity and an IP clause that confirms the economic rights in the work flow to you, with the author's moral rights respected as the IP Law requires.
Invoicing in USD, payment in VND
One invoice from Aniday to you in USD; local bank transfer in VND to the contractor on the agreed cycle. Because payments between residents inside Vietnam must be in dong, a local payer removes the foreign-currency friction contractors face when paid from abroad.
10% PIT withheld, remitted and certified
A Vietnamese payer must withhold 10% personal income tax on payments of VND 5 million or more to a resident without a labour contract. Aniday LLC withholds, remits, issues the withholding certificate the contractor needs for year-end finalisation, and applies the commitment-form exception where the contractor qualifies.
Disguised-employment liability sits with Aniday
If a contractor engaged under our COR is later found to be an employee, the administrative fines under Decree 12/2022, the retroactive social, health and unemployment insurance and the labour claims are our problem to resolve, not yours — that is what the fee pays for.
Convert to an employee when the role grows
When a contractor becomes full-time, we move them onto a labour contract under our Vietnam EOR with compulsory insurance, leave and work-permit sponsorship where needed — same contact, same platform.
Contractor rules in Vietnam at a glance
The facts that decide whether a contractor engagement in Vietnam is clean. All figures are the current rules as of September 2026; sources are listed below the table.
| Topic | Vietnam rule |
|---|---|
| Employee vs contractor | Labour Code 45/2019/QH14, Article 13(1): an agreement is a labour contract "regardless of its name" if it contains paid work, wages, and management, direction and supervision by one party. Genuine contractors sign a hợp đồng dịch vụ (service contract) or hợp đồng khoán việc (piece-work contract) under the Civil Code 2015. "Cộng tác viên" agreements that fix hours, reporting lines and monthly pay are the classic disguised labour contract. |
| Who can be a contractor | Vietnamese citizens and tax residents. Foreign nationals cannot freelance in Vietnam without work authorisation: under Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP (in force 7 Aug 2025, replacing Decrees 152/2020 and 70/2023) a work permit is tied to a sponsoring employer, so a foreign professional is engaged through EOR, not COR. |
| Income tax | Law on Personal Income Tax 109/2025/QH15, in force 1 Jul 2026, cut the progressive schedule from seven brackets to five (5% to 35%). Service fees paid to an individual without a labour contract are treated as remuneration and finalised at those rates. An individual registered as a business (cá nhân kinh doanh) is instead taxed on revenue: exempt up to VND 1 billion a year (Decree 141/2026, applying from 1 Jan 2026, up from VND 500 million), then at the sector percentage on revenue up to VND 3 billion and on net income above that. |
| Withholding on the payer | A Vietnamese payer withholds 10% PIT on each payment of VND 5 million or more to a resident individual without a labour contract or on a contract under three months (threshold raised from VND 2 million by Decree 253/2026 from 1 Jul 2026). A contractor with a single income source whose estimated annual income falls below the taxable level can file a commitment so no tax is withheld. Non-residents: 20% on remuneration. A foreign payer with no Vietnamese presence has no withholding duty — the individual must self-declare. |
| VAT | A private individual paid under a service contract is outside VAT. A registered cá nhân kinh doanh is exempt from VAT and PIT up to VND 1 billion of annual revenue; above that VAT is charged as a percentage of revenue at the service-sector rate (VAT Law 48/2024/QH15). Services exported to foreign clients can be zero-rated where the conditions are met. |
| Social security | No compulsory social, health or unemployment insurance for contractors. They can join voluntary social insurance (BHXH tự nguyện) at 22% of a chosen income base — from VND 330,000 a month at the VND 1.5 million minimum base in 2026, with the state covering 20% to 50% of that minimum — for retirement, survivorship and, under the Social Insurance Law 41/2024/QH15, a maternity allowance. |
| Intellectual property | Under Article 39 of the Law on Intellectual Property (as amended 2022), the organisation or individual that contracts with an author to create a work owns the economic rights and the right of publication unless otherwise agreed; the author keeps the moral rights of attribution and integrity. Aniday's contract confirms the economic rights flow to you and licenses the contractor's pre-existing materials. |
| Invoicing | A private individual does not issue invoices; the payer's contract, payment voucher and PIT withholding certificate are the supporting documents. Under Decree 123/2020 as amended by Decree 70/2025, a registered household or individual business with annual revenue of VND 1 billion or more must use e-invoices generated from tax-authority-connected cash registers; below that, e-invoices are voluntary and the tax office can issue a one-off invoice on request. |
| Currency and payment | Ordinance on Foreign Exchange: payments between residents inside Vietnam must be in VND, but a resident may receive foreign currency from abroad into a foreign-currency account and keep or sell it, with banks entitled to ask for the contract or invoice. Aniday LLC pays in VND by local bank transfer. Wise and Payoneer pay out to VND accounts; PayPal supports withdrawal to local banks. |
| Data protection | Law on Personal Data Protection 91/2025/QH15, in force 1 Jan 2026, replacing Decree 13/2023: consent-based processing, data-processing and cross-border-transfer impact assessments, and fines up to VND 3 billion, or 5% of revenue for unlawful cross-border transfers. Aniday is the controller for contractor data it collects. |
| If it goes wrong | Decree 12/2022/NĐ-CP fines an employer VND 2–25 million (scaled by headcount) for using the wrong contract type, plus retroactive social, health and unemployment insurance for the whole period with late-payment interest, back pay for leave and notice, and criminal exposure for serious insurance evasion. A foreign company also risks a permanent establishment — Vietnam's domestic definition is broad — if a contractor habitually concludes contracts on its behalf. |
Sources. Labour Code 45/2019/QH14, Decree 12/2022/NĐ-CP, Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP, Decree 123/2020/NĐ-CP as amended by Decree 70/2025/NĐ-CP, and Decrees 68/2026, 141/2026 and 253/2026/NĐ-CP from the Government legal document portal; Law on Personal Income Tax 109/2025/QH15, VAT Law 48/2024/QH15 and withholding guidance from the Ministry of Finance and its Tax Department; voluntary social insurance from Vietnam Social Security; Article 39 of the Law on Intellectual Property from the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam; foreign-exchange rules from the State Bank of Vietnam. Last verified 2026-09.
How Contractor of Record works in Vietnam
Three steps take you from "we want to engage this person" to the contractor's first payment.
Status check and contract
We test scope, hours, supervision and exclusivity against Labour Code Article 13 to confirm COR is the right vehicle, then Aniday LLC signs a bilingual hợp đồng dịch vụ with the contractor covering deliverables, fees, confidentiality, IP, data-handling and termination terms.
Onboarding and paperwork
We onboard the contractor: identity and residency check, tax code, bank details, business-registration status and a commitment form where applicable, all filed into a compliance pack you can hand to your auditors.
Work, payment and withholding
The contractor works with your team, and approved deliverables or timesheets roll into a single Aniday invoice to you in USD. The contractor is paid in VND on the agreed cycle with 10% PIT withheld and remitted where due, and withholding certificates and annual summaries are kept for the tax authority and for you.
COR, EOR or contractor management software — which one in Vietnam?
| Contractor of Record | Employer of Record | Contractor management software | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who is the counterparty | Aniday LLC contracts with the contractor | Aniday LLC employs the person | You contract directly; the tool only handles documents and payouts |
| Best for | Project work, part-time specialists, advisers, fractional roles | Full-time, supervised, ongoing roles; foreign hires needing a work permit | Companies that already have counsel, an entity or a risk appetite for classification |
| Classification risk | Assessed by Aniday; liability carried by Aniday | None — the person is an employee | Stays with you |
| PIT withholding, insurance, leave | 10% PIT withheld by Aniday LLC; no compulsory insurance | Progressive PIT, social, health and unemployment insurance, leave and notice handled | Not withheld — the contractor self-declares, and nobody checks |
| Convert later | Contractor → EOR employee in days | — | Manual |
🇻🇳 FAQs about Contractor of Record in Vietnam
Can I hire a contractor in Vietnam without a local company?
Yes. A foreign company can contract directly with a Vietnamese contractor, but it then has no withholding agent in Vietnam, so the contractor must self-declare tax, receive foreign currency through a bank that may ask for supporting documents, and carry the classification exposure with you. Under Aniday's Contractor of Record, Aniday LLC is the contracting party and the withholding agent, so you need no Vietnamese entity and the compliance sits with a local company.
Do I have to withhold tax when paying a Vietnamese contractor?
If the payer is in Vietnam, yes: 10% personal income tax on each payment of VND 5 million or more to a resident without a labour contract (the threshold rose from VND 2 million on 1 July 2026 under Decree 253/2026), and 20% for a non-resident. A contractor with one income source and an estimated annual income below the taxable level can file a commitment so nothing is withheld. A foreign payer with no Vietnamese presence has no withholding duty. Aniday LLC withholds, remits and issues the withholding certificate the contractor uses at year-end finalisation.
Is a "service contract" or "cộng tác viên" agreement enough to avoid employment?
Not on its own. Article 13 of the Labour Code 2019 treats any agreement as a labour contract, whatever its title, once it combines paid work, wages, and management, direction and supervision by one party. A hợp đồng dịch vụ holds up when the contractor controls how and when the work is done, is paid for deliverables rather than attendance, uses their own tools and is free to serve other clients. Aniday's assessment checks those facts before the contract is signed, and the contract is drafted to match them.
Who owns the work my contractor produces?
Vietnam's default favours the commissioning party: under Article 39 of the Law on Intellectual Property, the organisation or individual that contracts with an author to create a work owns the economic rights unless the contract says otherwise, while the author keeps the moral rights of attribution and integrity, which cannot be transferred. Aniday's service contract confirms that the economic rights and the right of publication flow to you and licenses the contractor's pre-existing materials, so ownership is settled before the first deliverable.
Does the contractor need to register as a business, charge VAT or issue e-invoices?
Usually not. A private individual working under a service contract is outside VAT, issues no invoice and is taxed through the payer's 10% withholding and their own year-end finalisation. A contractor who has registered as a cá nhân kinh doanh is exempt from VAT and PIT up to VND 1 billion of annual revenue, taxed on revenue above that, and must use cash-register e-invoices once revenue reaches VND 1 billion. We record which route each contractor is on so the tax treatment and paperwork are right from the first payment.
What happens if the contractor is found to be an employee?
The labour inspectorate can fine the employer VND 2–25 million per tier of affected workers under Decree 12/2022 for using the wrong contract type, order retroactive social, health and unemployment insurance for the whole period with late-payment interest, and the worker can claim leave, notice and severance as an employee. Serious insurance evasion carries criminal liability. Under our COR that exposure sits with Aniday LLC as the contracting party — and our Article 13 assessment is designed to stop the engagement being set up that way in the first place.
Can a foreign national living in Vietnam work for me as a contractor?
No. Foreign nationals need work authorisation, and under Decree 219/2025/NĐ-CP a work permit is issued to a sponsoring employer for a specific position, so a foreigner cannot legally freelance for a third party. Contractor of Record in Vietnam is for Vietnamese citizens and tax residents. For a foreign professional, the compliant route is employment under our Vietnam EOR with a work permit — typically 2–5 business days for a contractor set-up, longer where a permit is needed.
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