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5 min read 4 stepsMay 9, 2026Verified May 2026

Sending Money to Family in Vietnam Responsibly: Wise, Remitly, Fees, and the IRS Gift Rules

Remitting money home is a deep tradition for Vietnamese-American families. Here is how to send safely, compare fees, and stay on the right side of IRS rules.

At a Glance

Compare three services for your typical transfer amount

~35s

Pick the dollar amount you usually send (say $500). Visit wise.com, remitly.com, and westernunion.com. Enter the same $500 to Vietnam (VND). Each site shows the fee, the exchange rate, and the amount your recipient will get in dong. Write down all three. The cheapest option often delivers 200,000 to 800,000 more dong on a $500 transfer. Over a year that difference can buy a month of medication for a parent in Vietnam.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: The first transfer with Remitly or Wise is often fee-free as a promotion. Save those promo codes for larger annual sends like Tết (Lunar New Year) when extra gift money is traditional.

Set up your account with one trusted bank link

~26s

Sign up for one service first and link it to your U.S. checking account. Verify your identity with a photo of your driver license and a selfie. Add your recipient: full Vietnamese name in correct order (family name first), phone number, and either a Vietnamese bank account (Vietcombank, BIDV, Agribank, Techcombank are common) or a cash-pickup location. Send a small test transfer of $20 to $50 first to confirm everything works before sending larger amounts.

Keep records of all transfers for taxes and family clarity

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Every service emails a receipt after each transfer. Save these in a folder (paper or digital) labeled Remittances by year. Each receipt shows the date, U.S. dollar amount, fee, exchange rate, and Vietnamese dong received. Records protect you in three ways: 1) if a transfer is lost, you have proof, 2) if total annual gifts exceed $18,000 to any one recipient you can file IRS Form 709 accurately, and 3) family members back home can reconcile what was received against what was sent.

Know the gift-tax rule and when Form 709 applies

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If you give more than $18,000 to any one person in a calendar year (combining cash, transfers, gifts, and paid expenses), you must file IRS Form 709 by April 15 of the next year. You almost certainly owe no tax, but the filing is required. Married couples can split gifts: each spouse gives $18,000 to the same person, totaling $36,000, with no Form 709 required. Larger transfers over $10,000 are reported automatically by your U.S. bank to the Treasury under the Bank Secrecy Act. These reports are not bills. They are paperwork the bank handles.

Warning

Watch out for scam calls claiming to be from the IRS demanding back gift tax. The real IRS sends letters, never opens with a phone call demanding payment or gift cards. If you receive such a call, hang up and call the Treasury Inspector General hotline at 1-800-366-4484.

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Sending money home to family in Vietnam — called gửi tiền về Việt Nam — is a long-standing tradition for many Vietnamese-American families. Adult children, siblings, and parents back home rely on these transfers for medical bills, school fees, weddings, funerals, and daily living. The World Bank estimates Vietnam receives more than $14 billion a year in remittances from overseas Vietnamese, much of it from the United States.

There are four common ways to send money: bank wire (slow, expensive, well-documented), Wise (formerly TransferWise, low fees, mid-market exchange rate, online), Remitly (low fees, cash-pickup option at Vietnamese banks like Vietcombank, BIDV, Agribank), and Western Union or MoneyGram (cash-to-cash, fast but higher fees). Two newer Vietnamese-focused options are Remit2VN and Sacombank Remit.

Fees and exchange rates vary widely. For a $1,000 transfer, Wise might charge $4 to $8 and use the mid-market exchange rate. Remitly charges similarly, sometimes with a promotional zero-fee first transfer. Western Union storefront-to-storefront can run $20 to $50, plus a worse exchange rate, which adds another 1 to 3 percent in hidden cost. Over a year, the same family sending $500 a month could pay $200 or $1,000 in fees depending on which service they use. Comparing matters.

The IRS does not tax gifts you send to family — money you give as a gift is not income to them. But the gift-tax rules require you to file Form 709 (Gift Tax Return) if you give more than $18,000 to any one person in 2025 (the limit is adjusted yearly). The form is informational for most senior givers. You do not owe tax until lifetime gifts exceed $13.99 million as of 2025. Married couples can each give $18,000, doubling the limit to $36,000 per recipient per year. Wire transfers over $10,000 also trigger an automatic Treasury currency report (FinCEN), which is filed by the bank, not you.

Receiving families in Vietnam pay no income tax on family gifts under Vietnamese law. Some banks may ask the recipient to confirm the source of funds for very large transfers.

(Sources: irs.gov — Form 709 Instructions; wise.com — Send Money to Vietnam; remitly.com — Vietnam corridor; World Bank Migration and Development Brief 2024)

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