Compare · United States vs Vietnam
United States vs Vietnam for Australians leaving home
United States:Worldwide taxAU tax treatyVietnam:Worldwide taxAU tax treaty
United States and Vietnam run the same headline regime, worldwide tax, so the decision turns on the details underneath: what each one does to capital gains, dividends and the Australian income you keep.
Both have a tax treaty with Australia, so either way you get a tie-breaker if the ATO contests your departure, and capped withholding (15%/10% vs 15%/10% on unfranked dividends/interest).
Vietnam is the cheaper place to live day to day, roughly 40% of Sydney's basket against United States's 115% (indicative, ex-rent), which can outweigh a thinner tax saving over a full household budget.
Personalise this, enter your numbers once and every figure below becomes yours: “your estimated income tax: $14,200”, not “0, 22%”. Open the Country Comparison tool →
| 2 destinations | United StatesUnited States | VietnamVietnam |
|---|---|---|
| Tax | ||
| Regime | worldwide, taxes worldwide income | worldwide, taxes worldwide income |
| Income tax on salary | Federal 10, 37% plus state tax (0, 13.3%) plus FICA (7.65% employee side). A US$150k salary in California pays roughly 30%+ combined; in Texas closer to 24%. | Progressive 5, 35% on worldwide employment income; the 35% band starts around A$58k/year equivalent, high earners hit the top rate fast. |
| Capital gains | Long-term (12+ months) federal rate 0/15/20% plus 3.8% NIIT above ~US$200k income; short-term gains at full ordinary rates. States tax gains as ordinary income, California adds up to 13.3%. (15% typical) | Securities: 0.1% of gross sale proceeds (final), cheap if you win, painful if you sell at a loss. Private company stakes: 20% on the gain. Property: 2% of proceeds. (0% typical) |
| Dividends | Qualified dividends at 15% (20% top). Australian franking credits are invisible to the IRS, franked dividends are just taxable income with a credit for the AU WHT. | Flat 5% on dividends and bank interest, one of the lowest investment-income rates anywhere. |
| Interest | Taxed locally around 24% | Taxed locally around 5% |
| Crypto | Crypto is property: every disposal (including spending and swaps) is a capital gains event, short-term gains at ordinary rates, long-term at 0/15/20%. Broker reporting to the IRS is now systematic. | Crypto sits in a legal grey zone: not recognised as an asset or payment means, with a regulatory framework legislated to take effect from 2026 (pilot exchanges, expected transaction taxes). Today, taxation of personal crypto gains is untested in practice. |
| Australia tax treaty | Yes, AU withholding capped at 15% dividends / 10% interest, tie-breaker available | Yes, AU withholding capped at 15% dividends / 10% interest, tie-breaker available |
| Social security | FICA (6.2% social security capped + 1.45% Medicare uncapped) applies to US employment; a totalisation agreement with Australia prevents double super/social security in most postings. | Compulsory social insurance applies to employees on Vietnamese labour contracts (foreigners included, ~10.5% employee side, capped); remote workers for foreign employers are outside it. |
| Visa | ||
| Best pathways |
|
|
| Visa ease | 6/10 | 4/10 |
| Family on visas | Dependants covered on main pathways | Dependants covered on main pathways |
| Fastest timeline | ~2 months on the quickest pathway | ~0 months on the quickest pathway |
| Money | ||
| Rent (family home, monthly) | $7,500/mo | $2,200/mo |
| Rent (couple, monthly) | $4,500/mo | $1,200/mo |
| International school (per child/yr) | Free / local system viable | $20,000 |
| Health cover (family/yr) | $20,000 | $4,500 |
| Cost of living vs Sydney | 115% of Sydney (ex-rent) | 40% of Sydney (ex-rent) |
| Relocation one-off | ~$30,000 | ~$12,000 |
| Flights home (return, pp) | $2,000 | $1,200 |
| Life | ||
| Timezone vs AEST | 18h behind | 3h behind |
| Flight from Sydney | ~13.5 hours | ~9 hours |
| English | 10/10 | 4/10 |
| Safety | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Healthcare | 8/10 | 5/10 |
| Schooling | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Climate | Continental spread, LA is 20, 28°C and sunny most of the year; pick your city, pick your climate. | HCMC: hot year-round with a May, November wet season; Hanoi adds a genuinely cold, damp winter. |
Costs, rates and visa figures are country-module data marked indicative until individually verified; FX and rental markets move constantly.
Honest downsides, side by side
Every destination hub on this site carries its downsides in the open. Here are both lists together, because the right question is rarely “which is better?” and usually “which set of problems would you rather live with?”
United States
- This is a move for career and earnings, not tax, combined federal + state + FICA in a coastal city will roughly match or exceed your Australian rate.
- Healthcare is tied to employment and ruinously expensive without it; a family plan's premiums and deductibles can exceed A$25k/year of exposure.
- The IRS relationship is sticky: green card holders are taxed on worldwide income for life until formal surrender, and FBAR/FATCA reporting on Australian accounts carries brutal penalties for innocent omissions.
- Your superannuation is a US tax problem: no treaty article clearly protects it, and treatment (foreign grantor trust? employee trust?) is unsettled, specialist advice is non-optional.
- Gun violence, litigation culture and the cost of failure (no safety net) are real quality-of-life deductions Americans price in and Australians don't.
Vietnam
- No digital nomad visa and no retirement visa: unless you have a job, a company or a Vietnamese spouse, there is no compliant way to live here long-term.
- The 35% top band arrives at a low threshold, a good Australian salary earned as a Vietnamese resident is taxed harder than in Australia.
- Banking and moving money is bureaucratic: the dong is not freely convertible and repatriating funds requires documentation.
- Healthcare below international-clinic level is poor; anything serious means Bangkok or Singapore.
- Air quality in Hanoi ranks among the world's worst several months a year.
Make this comparison yours
The table above shows the general figures. Enter your income and family once and the tax rows become your numbers, “your estimated income tax in Los Angeles: $14,200”, not a range.