Renting out an apartment by the day on Airbnb: is it legal, and does it pay more than a long-term let?

Legal basis: Law on Housing 2023 (Article 3(8)(c)); Law on Tourism 2017 (Articles 48, 49); Law on Residence 2020, Article 30 as amended, effective 01/7/2026; Decree 282/2025/NĐ-CP (effective 15/12/2025); Decree 141/2026/NĐ-CP amending Decree 68/2026/NĐ-CP (threshold of 1 billion VND/year from 01/01/2026); Ho Chi Minh City Decision 19/2026/QĐ-UBND (effective 25/4/2026) · Updated 24/10/2026.

The short answer: letting by the day is not automatically prohibited, but it is only valid when the apartment is permitted for accommodation use and you complete the procedures of an accommodation facility. On money, short-term lets bring higher revenue, but after platform fees, cleaning and utilities, net income beats a long-term let only when the unit is booked for more than about half the nights.

Income: a reference example of a 2-bedroom unit in Ho Chi Minh City

Market data: according to AirDNA data (reported by VnExpress on 11/6/2025), Ho Chi Minh City had nearly 14,000 apartments operating on Airbnb in 2024, with an average rate of 58 USD/night (about 1.5 million VND), an occupancy rate of about 50%; long-term rents are commonly 14–25 million VND/month. The example below uses these levels; the cost items are assumptions for illustration, not measurements of a specific unit.

Item / month	Short-term let (self-operated, booked 15 nights)	Long-term let (17 million VND/month)
Revenue	15 nights × 1.5 million = 22.5 million VND	17 million × 11 months ÷ 12 = 15.6 million VND (vacant 1 month/year)
Platform fee	− 3.5 million (15.5% — the common host-only Airbnb fee)	—
Brokerage to find a tenant	—	− 1.4 million (1 month's rent a year)
Cleaning, laundry	− 2 million (about 8 guest stays × 250,000 VND)	—
Electricity, water, internet	− 2 million (paid by the owner)	paid by the tenant
Condominium management fee	− 1 million	paid by the tenant (depending on the contract)
Consumables, repairs, replacing items	− 1.5 million	− 0.7 million (8 million VND/year)
Net income	about 12.5 million VND	about 13.5 million VND

As the number of booked nights changes, the short-term result swings sharply:

Booked nights / month	Net short-term income (self-operated)
12 nights (40%)	about 9.1 million VND
15 nights (50%)	about 12.5 million VND
16 nights (53%)	about 13.6 million VND — level with a long-term let
21 nights (70%)	about 19.3 million VND

• Hiring an operator (receiving guests, cleaning, handling reviews): if the operating fee is about 20% of revenue, then at 15 nights net income falls to about 8 million VND — well below a long-term let.
• Effort that is not priced: handling check-outs, answering messages day and night, dealing with residents' complaints. A long-term let needs almost only one contract a year.
• The same VnExpress report records an owner who once earned about 25 million VND/month at over 70% occupancy, when a long-term let brought only 17 million VND — that is revenue before costs, and a single case.

To work it out for your own unit, use the rental income calculator and the method of deducting costs in the article on gross and net rental yield.

Residential condominiums: what the Law on Housing prohibits, what Ho Chi Minh City allows

• Law on Housing 2023, Article 3(8)(c) prohibits using a condominium apartment for purposes other than residence (the 2014 Law on Housing had a similar provision). The Ministry of Construction once relied on this to treat hourly and daily lets as violations.

• There is no definition of "short-term": in a report to the Ministry of Justice (reported by VietnamFinance on 17/5/2025), the Ministry of Construction said there is no rule defining how many days count as short-term and no provision banning owners from letting their apartments; an apartment used for tourist accommodation business must also follow tourism law. The Ministry said it would review and report to the competent authority to amend the rules.

• Ho Chi Minh City changed course in 2026: Decision 26/2025/QĐ-UBND (effective 27/02/2025) stated that residential apartments may not be used for short-term accommodation lets — many buildings then announced bans. That decision has been replaced by Decision 19/2026/QĐ-UBND, effective 25/4/2026: short-term accommodation lets (tourist apartments) must register tourist accommodation facility operations, operate in line with the approved function and design file (Article 12(3)); the lessor must meet obligations on tax, residence, security and order, fire safety, environment, temporary residence registration / stay notification for tenants, and bind tenants to the condominium's house rules (Article 12(4)).

• Other provinces and cities: follow the local condominium management rules and each building's house rules. Before buying to let short-term, ask the management board in writing: does the building allow it, is there an extra fee, will guests be issued lift cards.

Law on Tourism: the "tourist apartment" is a separate type

• Article 48 of the 2017 Law on Tourism lists the tourist apartment as one type of tourist accommodation facility, alongside hotels, tourist villas, guesthouses and homestays.
• Article 49 sets 3 conditions for tourist accommodation business: a business registration; meeting security and order, fire safety, environmental protection and food safety conditions; and having the minimum facilities and services for guests.
• Short-term accommodation services are a conditional business line under the 2020 Law on Investment (Appendix IV), as HoREA cited in its proposal of 21/9/2025.
• So a licensed product — a tourist apartment in a tourism or service project (usually with term-limited ownership, for example 50 years) — has a clearer legal footing than a residential condominium apartment for short-term lets; see also ownership term of an apartment.

Stay notification and declaring foreign guests

• Vietnamese guests: under Article 30 of the Law on Residence (amended, effective 01/7/2026), the accommodation facility must notify before 23:00 on the day the guest begins the stay; for guests arriving after 23:00, notify before 8:00 the next morning. Notification can be made through the VNeID app or the public service portal (Ho Chi Minh City's Decision 19/2026 names both online channels).
• Penalties (Article 10 of Decree 282/2025/NĐ-CP): an individual who fails to notify a stay is warned or fined 500,000–1,000,000 VND; an accommodation business that fails to notify for 1–3 people is fined 2–4 million VND, for 4–8 people 4–8 million VND; an organisation in breach is fined double.
• Foreign guests: the accommodation facility declares temporary residence to the police within 12 hours of the guest's arrival (24 hours in remote areas — Article 33 of Law No. 47/2014/QH13 on the entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners). Failure to declare is fined by number of people (Article 21 of Decree 282/2025/NĐ-CP): 1–3 people 3–5 million VND, 4–8 people 10–15 million VND, 9 or more people 15–20 million VND. See also declaring temporary residence when letting a home.

Tax: letting by the day is accommodation business

• The tax rules for individuals' real estate letting exclude accommodation business (Law on Personal Income Tax No. 109/2025/QH15, per the Tax Department's answer at a Tuoi Tre seminar, reported by CafeBiz on 05/02/2026). Letting an apartment by the day through Airbnb, Booking or Agoda is accommodation business, taxed as a business household or individual, not under the house-letting form 01/BĐS used for long-term leases.

• Threshold of 1 billion VND/year (from 01/01/2026): business households and individuals with annual revenue of 1 billion VND or less pay no value-added tax and no personal income tax (Decree 141/2026/NĐ-CP). The unit in the example above earns about 270 million VND/year — below the threshold, but the threshold is counted on the total revenue of every unit you operate.

• Above 1 billion VND/year: value-added tax is charged at a percentage rate on all revenue, personal income tax at a trade-based rate on the revenue above 1 billion VND (or on income), and e-invoices with the tax authority's code must be used. The rates that apply to accommodation services: ask the managing tax authority before you start.

• From May 2026, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism proposed requiring cross-border platforms (Airbnb, Agoda, Booking) to list only units with a business licence and tax code and to provide transaction data to the tax authority — this is a proposal, not yet a rule.

Operating costs to plan for

• Platform fee: Airbnb is moving all hosts to a host-only fee, commonly 15.5% (ranging 14–16%) deducted from what the host receives; the old 3% split fee is being phased out. Airbnb may change fees at any time.
• Cleaning, laundry and consumables after every stay — the shorter the stay, the higher the cost per night.
• Electricity, water, internet and TV are paid by the owner even when the unit is vacant.
• Furnishings wear out faster than with a long-term let: towels, sheets, mattresses, air conditioners, electronic locks.
• An operator (if hired): a share of revenue, like the 20% in the example above — ask whether the fee includes cleaning and laundry.
• Condominium management fee and guest parking fees; some buildings charge extra for units used for accommodation.

Risks

• Opposition from the management board and residents: a building can restrict lift cards or refuse to register guests — while Decision 26/2025 was in force, many buildings in Ho Chi Minh City issued bans. The rule has already changed once in just over a year and could change again.
• Low season: short-term income swings with the tourist season and holidays; at 40% of nights booked, net income in the example falls to only about 9.1 million VND/month.
• Competing supply: Ho Chi Minh City alone has nearly 14,000 Airbnb units (AirDNA, 2024); a building with many similar units tends to squeeze nightly rates.
• Administrative fines if you forget to notify a stay or declare a foreign guest — every guest stay is one more task to do.
• Buying with a loan: nightly cash flow is uneven, making monthly repayments hard to guarantee — see safe bank leverage.

Suitable units: telling tourist apartments from residential condominiums

• A tourist apartment in a tourism complex, with an operator: legal status built for accommodation, with the guest flow of the whole complex. For example Alora Nha Trang — a tourist apartment with 50-year ownership (to 10/08/2071), studios from 1.36 billion VND under the developer's sales policy, Managed by KDI Group, Serviced by The Ascott; located in the Libera Nha Trang complex alongside Villa Le Corail – A Gran Meliá and The Paramount, which are already operating. According to the developer's materials, Paramount Signature apartments in the same area let for 1.5–2 million VND/night — figures for a different product, not a commitment for Alora. See also tourist and seaside resort apartments.
• Townhouses and apartments on freehold residential land in a tourist city: Meyhomes Capital Phú Quốc — the developer announces a fund of urban residential land with freehold ownership; the "Connected Home" townhouse line fronting ĐT975 is for living, business or accommodation lets. The developer has not published a general price list — ask for each unit's price.
• A handed-over residential condominium apartment in the centre: The Marq (former District 1, operated by Savills) suits long-term lets and monthly lets to professionals; for daily lets you must first ask the management board and check against Decision 19/2026 — HPR can ask on your behalf for the unit you are interested in.

This article is for reference only and does not replace legal or financial advice for your specific case. Income figures are illustrative examples, not a commitment to profit.

1. Check the product type on the sale contract and the certificate: a residential condominium apartment, an apartment in a mixed-use building, or a tourist apartment.
2. Read the provincial / municipal rules on condominium management (Ho Chi Minh City: Decision 19/2026/QĐ-UBND) and the building's house rules; ask the management board in writing whether the building allows short-term accommodation lets and how much extra fee applies.
3. Register as a business household and register tourist accommodation operations where the locality requires it; meet the security, order and fire-safety conditions.
4. Prepare a process for notifying each guest's stay on VNeID (before 23:00) and for declaring foreign guests' temporary residence within 12 hours.
5. Work out net income at 3 occupancy levels — 40% · 50% · 70% — after platform fees, cleaning, utilities and management fees; compare with the actual long-term rent in the same building.
6. Add up total revenue from all the units you operate to see whether it exceeds the 1 billion VND/year threshold; ask the tax authority which tax rate applies to accommodation services.
7. If buying with a loan: make sure you can repay even in the low-season months.
8. Choose a fallback in advance: if the building or the rules change, at what rent could the unit be let long-term?

• LuatVietnam — Ho Chi Minh City: short-term apartment lets must register tourist accommodation from 25/4/2026 (Decision 19/2026/QĐ-UBND, Article 11, Article 12(3)–(4)), 15 April 2026.
• HTV — Ho Chi Minh City tightens management of short-term stays in condominiums, 15 April 2026.
• VietnamFinance — Condominiums let for short-term stays: no basis to ban, should the rules be amended? (Ministry of Construction report to the Ministry of Justice; Decision 26/2025/QĐ-UBND), 17 May 2025.
• Business Forum — HoREA proposes adding a mechanism to manage short-term accommodation services (Article 3(8)(c) of the 2023 Law on Housing; Law on Investment 2020, Appendix IV), 21 September 2025.
• VnExpress — Short-term apartment accommodation will struggle to "return to its golden age" (AirDNA data: nearly 14,000 units, 58 USD/night, occupancy about 50%; long-term rents 14–25 million VND/month), 11 June 2025.
• Viet Bao (citing Doanh nhân & Pháp luật) — Ho Chi Minh City: letting tourist apartments must register accommodation and meet legal conditions (proposal of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism on booking platforms), 17 May 2026.
• Law on Tourism No. 09/2017/QH14, Article 48 (types of tourist accommodation facilities) and Article 49 (conditions for tourist accommodation business).
• CafeF (citing Thanh Hoa Provincial Police) — New rules on stay notification have officially taken effect (Article 30 of the amended Law on Residence, Article 10 of Decree 282/2025/NĐ-CP), 31 July 2026.
• Vietnam Lawyers Magazine — Guesthouses and hotels that fail to declare foreign guests' temporary residence face fines of up to 20 million VND (Article 21 of Decree 282/2025/NĐ-CP), 22 November 2025.
• Vietnam Law Newspaper — Fines for hosting foreigners without declaring them (12-hour / 24-hour deadline, Article 33 of Law No. 47/2014/QH13).
• CafeBiz — Letting apartments to Airbnb operators… the Tax Department answers (letting real estate "excluding accommodation business"), 5 February 2026.
• Government News — Full text of Decree No. 141/2026/NĐ-CP (revenue threshold of 1 billion VND/year, e-invoices above the threshold).
• Einvoice — Business households with revenue up to 1 billion VND/year: declaring and handling tax from 2026 (how it is calculated above the threshold), 15 May 2026.
• Airbnb Help Center — Airbnb service fees (common host-only fee of 15.5%, 3% split fee being phased out), checked 24 October 2026.