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You probably wont get the most accurate answer here but I will say what I know to the best of my ability. Double check this with an experienced tax attorney here. Also keep in mind I went to 3 different attorneys and got 3 totally different answers because in Vietnam there is always the written law and then there is how things are really done. Unfortunately that's just something to get use to.

Per the written law if you work as an employee of the company you will owe personal income tax plus other taxes if you stay longer than 180 days regardless of whether you owe tax in Belgium or not. Would need to review your double taxation agreement between Belgium and Veitnam.

One potential option that you would need to speak with an attorney about is working freelance for the company and having your wife set up family business or Há»™ kinh doanh. This type of setup is extremely tax friendly. You pay a really small percentage of gross profits. There are no expenses like other types of businesses. If you talk to an attorney and they say you cannot do this as a foreigner just remind them that you are married to a Vietnamse citizen and the business would be in your wife's name.

Double check everything I just said. I am not an attorney or tax professional. I have just done a lot of research on this.

I'm finding that questions like these are perfect for AI to answer. I get the most amazing concise and factual responses from GROK AI and Gemini

@jrharvey

Thank you for the quick and long reply!

"I went to 3 different attorneys and got 3 totally different answers"

=> This is unfortunately why I am asking here. As you say, I know I might not get the most accurate answer here, but I hope to get some advice based on real example/cases.

And yes, this is how it works in Vietnam...

About the taxation, there is a double taxation agreement between Belgium and Vietnam.

I used to work here for about 4 years (for a Vietnamese company) and was paying taxes here. I then didn't have to pay any taxes in Belgium.

But the case here is indeed very different.

I will follow your advice to talk to an attorney here (or more than one to make sure).

I am currently talking to one in Belgium.

And I will also definitely have a look at the option with the "Há»™ kinh doanh" you mentionned.

Could be interesting!

Thanks again!

@OceanBeach92107

Thank you for the reply.

However, to be honest, AI is the last place I would go for this kind of questions.

AI gather random information from Internet, it can be correct, or not...

Most of the times I have asked about administrative or legal stuff, I got completely wrong answers (or different answers depending on the time of the day).

It is extremely unreliable.

The last example I have was a few days ago I asked a simple question about eVisa in Vietnam.

Both Gemini and ChatGPT (pro versions) gave me wrong answers, though the answer was directly available on the eVisa homepage...

AI can be very useful, but it can't be trusted blindly.

And in this case, I already had a lot of divergent information, and AI will just give me more of it.

Thanks for the advice though

@Derek Severin

Hi there.

Will your work require your being in the field, or will it be entirely online? There had been previous discussions regarding this and potential tax issues.

@Aidan in HCMC

Hello,

Thanks for the reply.

My work will be fully online (software development).

I saw other posts about the subject, with interesting information. But apparently there's been changes recently in Vietnamese law, so I also try to get more up to date information.

Also, I am trying to gather as much information as possible from different sources.