At the discussion session in the hall about the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Advertising Law on the afternoon of November 25, delegate Thach Phuoc Binh (Tra Vinh delegation) provided a shocking number.
In 2023 alone, Vietnam lost more than 1,000 billion VND in tax revenue from online advertising. The reason is that the advertising market share in Vietnam is currently mainly in the hands of cross-border platforms such as Facebook, Google, Tiktok...
These platforms account for 75% of advertising revenue (2023 figures). But they are not fully registered to operate in Vietnam or are only partially registered, leading to inability to effectively manage taxes.
Preventing tax losses from online advertising with the immediate figure of 1,000 billion VND to reduce pressure on the State budget revenue is an urgent matter that must be done immediately with many synchronous solutions.
Among them, the draft Law on Advertising must add a specialized provision on online advertising as proposed by delegate Thach Phuoc Binh to fill the gap in the 2012 Law on Advertising.
This specialized provision includes regulations governing new forms of advertising including social media advertising, artificial intelligence application advertising, etc. Providing clear guidance on the responsibilities and obligations of advertising participants (advertisers, online platforms).
Along with combating tax losses, another issue related to online advertising that needs to be regulated by law is the violation of advertising from many perspectives.
Among them, the most common and repeatedly pointed out by the authorities are advertisements for illegal services and products (black credit, virtual currency, gambling games, betting...); false advertisements; advertisements of some Vietnamese brands and businesses are attached to bad, toxic, reactionary content, violating Vietnamese law, especially on YouTube, Facebook...
On the one hand, authorities are fighting with cross-border platforms to block and remove violating advertisements; at the same time, they are demanding compliance with Vietnamese laws on advertising as they have long done.
On the one hand, the draft Law on Advertising must also promptly supplement synchronous regulations to plug loopholes in online advertising that not only seriously affect the rights and interests of organizations and individuals participating in advertising activities but also threaten security and safety in cyberspace.
With about 78.44 million internet users and 72.70 million social network users (equivalent to 73.3% of the total population) and growing, Vietnam is a potential market for businesses doing advertising on digital platforms.
But if we do not promptly take effective management measures as well as overcome the limitations and shortcomings of the Advertising Law, we can easily be exploited to become a fertile market for tax evasion and violations in the field of online advertising!
