Taxing profits from gold transactions is considered appropriate and timely by financial experts, aiming to limit speculation and short-term trading. However, experts also stress that tax policies must clearly distinguish legitimate savings from speculative activity.

Clarifying saving versus speculation to ensure fair taxation

The government has requested that the revised Personal Income Tax Law clearly state that income from gold trading is taxable. This regulation is intended to improve transparency and curb speculative behavior. The Ministry of Finance is working with the State Bank of Vietnam to finalize the relevant provisions.

Speaking to VietNamNet, economist Nguyen Quang Huy, CEO of the Finance and Banking Faculty at Nguyen Trai University, noted that gold has long served not only as a financial asset but also as a traditional savings method and a means of financial security for many households. Therefore, tax policies must be carefully designed to distinguish between legitimate saving and business-like speculation.

Mr. Huy suggested that personal income tax should be levied only on actual profits - that is, the difference between the purchase and sale prices that can be documented - rather than on the entire transaction value. This approach, he said, is key to preventing negative impacts on individuals who sell gold for essential personal needs.

He also recommended setting reasonable tax-exempt thresholds, such as exempting profits below a certain annual amount or low-volume transactions. This would ensure fairness while allowing authorities to focus resources on large-scale cases instead of millions of minor ones.

Another common concern is whether people who have saved gold over a lifetime would face taxes when they finally sell. Mr. Huy acknowledged this worry and proposed a humane solution.

“Tax exemptions or reductions could be offered for transactions involving long-term holdings - for instance, gold held for over two years. This would protect individuals treating gold as savings, while short-term trading activities would remain taxable,” he explained.

To genuinely reduce speculation, he believes that tax policies should steer behavior by encouraging long-term holding and increasing costs for short-term trades. Higher tax rates could be applied to large or frequent transactions that suggest commercial intent.

In parallel, more fundamental solutions should be pursued, such as promoting safe and transparent alternatives like gold certificates, digital gold accounts, or gold ETFs. Authorities should also make other investment channels - like savings accounts, bonds, and stocks - more attractive, reduce price disparities through public pricing information, and tighten oversight of the gold business sector.

“When the financial system operates transparently and efficiently, the urge to hoard gold as a speculative vehicle will naturally diminish,” Mr. Huy emphasized.

Proposal: Tax only transactions involving one tael or more

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tu, a lecturer at Hanoi University of Business and Technology, also supports the government’s directive to include gold trading profits in the Personal Income Tax Law, calling it timely and necessary to stabilize the gold market.

According to Dr. Tu, core legal principles state that any organization or individual conducting business and earning income must pay taxes. Thus, the law must clarify the applicable tax rates, collection methods, responsible agencies, and whether taxes will be withheld at source or self-declared.

He proposed applying a 1-2% tax on the sale price - similar to the 2% rate for real estate - and collecting the tax at the point of sale via gold trading businesses.

Dr. Tu argued that taxing gold trading income would dampen speculative behavior. Investors would be subject to both the market price gap and the tax. For example, if someone buys gold today at 131 million VND per tael (about $5,350) and sells tomorrow at 128 million VND (about $5,230), they would already lose 3 million VND. With an additional 2 million VND (around $82) in taxes, the total loss would be 5 million VND (roughly $205) per tael.

“This would likely shift investor behavior toward other productive business channels. Money would flow into the real economy instead of being locked up in gold, reducing demand and lowering prices,” he said.

However, Dr. Tu emphasized the need for a taxable threshold, proposing that only sales of one tael or more be taxed. Small, occasional sales - such as 1-2 chi (a few grams) - should remain tax-exempt to protect average citizens.

He concluded that implementation should begin within this year, rather than waiting for formal revisions to the Personal Income Tax Law, to help stabilize the gold market and avoid late-year exchange rate pressure.

Nguyen Le