Thanh Nien Newspaper proposes to have separate regulations to remove tax and income problems for journalists.

According to the document sent, the representative of the editorial board of Thanh Nien Newspaper said: In the face of the general difficulties of the national economy , especially the press economy is on the decline as readers gradually abandon print newspapers and switch to electronic newspapers. In addition, the emergence of many new advertising platforms leads to increasingly difficult press economies.

Youth newspaper proposes separate regulations to improve income tax for photographers 1 — Illustration photo.

Previously, in order to support press agencies in maintaining a stable organizational structure and ensuring salary payments for staff to work with peace of mind, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular 150/2010/TT-BTC providing guidance on value added tax and corporate income tax for press agencies.

In item c, clause 2, article 2, Circular 150/2010/TT-BTC clearly stipulates a number of newspaper expenses, including: "Salary expenses included in reasonable expenses when determining the taxable income of the newspaper are the actual salary amounts paid by the newspaper to employees, with valid and legal documents".

The above regulation has helped press agencies accurately reflect expenses, use income subject to corporate income tax and ensure income for reporters and employees. However, from April 3, 2023, Circular 150/2010/TT-BTC was abolished by Circular 19/2023/TT-BTC, so press agencies currently do not know which regulations to follow.

Currently, some press agencies are financially autonomous and pay corporate income tax like enterprises, but they are still public administrative units and are therefore governed by regulations on this group. Therefore, if the salary costs of the press are applied according to Decree 60/2021/ND-CP dated June 21, 2021, which stipulates the financial autonomy mechanism of public administrative units, it will lead to an increase in pre-tax revenue of press agencies and they have to pay more corporate income tax than enterprises with the same revenue, while enterprises are still allowed to deduct all actual salaries paid into annual expenses before paying taxes.

The document stated: “This is the biggest problem for press agencies nationwide, especially in the current economic situation where the press is facing many difficulties and revenue is plummeting. If we are only allowed to calculate salary costs based on coefficients like public service units without being allowed to pay additional income based on productivity, the income of all employees will decrease sharply.”

To help press agencies overcome current challenges and difficulties, Thanh Nien Newspaper hopes that the Ministry of Information and Communications will soon propose that the Ministry of Finance consider regulations specifically for press agencies after abolishing Circular 150/TT/2010/TT-BTC dated September 27, 2010. Specifically, Thanh Nien Newspaper proposes to clearly stipulate that "Salary costs included in reasonable expenses when determining the taxable income of the newspaper are the actual salary amounts paid by the newspaper to employees, with valid and legal documents".

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