From December 1, 2017, Vietnamese who can show a minimum income of VND10 million (US$440) per month are eligible to gamble at a casino.

It is one of the contents in the Circular No 102/2017/TT-BTC, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding a number of articles of Decree No 03/2017/ND-CP on casino businesses, which will take effect from December 1, 2017.

Accordingly, Viet Nam nationals gambling at casinos must prove that they have one of the following types of documents: documents proving that their income is taxable at level 3 or higher, as prescribed in the Law on Personal Income Tax within one year before playing at a casino or documents proving a regular income of VND10 million per month or more.

For casino businesses, the circular stipulates that enterprises must open books or issue electronic cards to monitor the people who are allowed to enter the casino.

The monitoring book or electronic cards must ensure control of people entering and exiting the casino, and must be archived for a minimum period of two years to aid the inspection and examination process of the State management agencies.

Particularly for enterprises permitted to allow Vietnamese to play at a casino, the Vietnamese-based monitoring book must be archived for a minimum period of five years to aid the purpose of reviewing and evaluating the pilot project, in accordance with regulations.

At the same time, casino enterprises are responsible for collecting and accounting separately the proceeds from the fare sales. The firms which are permitted to let Vietnamese players enter, may declare the number of Vietnamese people who buy tickets and then pay the proceeds from the sale of the tickets to the State budget. The time limit for submission shall be the same as the time of temporary payment of corporate income tax, according to the regulations of the tax legislation. — VNS