About US$2.5 billion has been spent on online ads and digital marketing in 2022, most of which has gone to Facebook, Google and TikTok, according to the Vietnam E-Commerce Association (Vecom).

This is the amount of contractor tax paid by the platforms.

Foreign enterprises doing business in Vietnam must store key internet data on servers located within the country, according to a new government decree.

Cross-border TV OTT platforms will have to have operating licenses and pay tax, and domestic firms will be subjected to looser censorship, thus creating opportunities for domestic firms to compete with foreign ones.

Many enterprises say that Vietnam lacks effective tools to fight unhealthy competition. There are legal documents to cover the issue but it is difficult to apply and enforce them.

Since the portal for tax payment of cross border activities was launched on March 21 this year, 36 foreign service providers have registered, declared and paid taxes through it, heard a webinar held by the Government Portal on September 29.

The General Department of Taxation has sent an official dispatch requesting Netflix to fulfill its tax declaration and payment obligations in accordance with Vietnamese tax law.

If Vietnamese enterprises want to compete with foreign rivals, they must make their own product eco-system learn and apply smart policies to dominate the market.

Local tax authorities are closely monitoring activities and collecting cash flow data of cross-border platforms such as Facebook, Google, and YouTube, and strictly handling tax fraud.

Cross-border businesses providing services directly to individual users earn huge revenue from Vietnamese customers but they have not paid taxes to Vietnam.

Cross-border businesses providing services directly to individual users earn huge revenue from Vietnamese customers but they have not paid taxes to Vietnam.

Key tasks of the General Department of Taxation in 2021 include tax management and tax collection from online business activities, and from individuals and businesses with revenue generated from Facebook, Google and YouTube.

When trading activities in the virtual environment yield huge profits, tax collection becomes a dilemma for many countries.