The National Assembly passed the new Law on Value Added Tax (VAT) with 407/451 delegates in favor, reaching a rate of 84.97% in favor.
With the new Value Added Tax Law, cultural activities, exhibitions, physical education, sports , performing arts, film production, import, distribution and screening of films are subject to a tax rate of 10%. This Law will come into effect from July 1, 2025.
Sharing about the National Assembly's passing of the Value Added Tax Law applying a tax rate of 10% to the cultural sector, Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Hoai Son - Standing Member of the Committee on Culture andEducation - emphasized: "We reserve the best things to talk about culture. But we do not necessarily reserve the best things for culture."
Delegates press the button to approve the bill. (Photo: Nhu Y)
According to him, in the context of Vietnam's cultural trade deficit, Vietnamese cinema is still weak, foreign films dominate Vietnamese films, dominating the interests and spirit of Vietnamese people. What needs to be done is to revive this field to contribute to bringing important messages about history and human love.
Previously, these activities were subject to a 5% tax rate. Right from the discussion sessions at the National Assembly on the Law on Value Added Tax (amended), many delegates voiced their disagreement with this proposal.
Some delegates said that despite efforts and achievements, we cannot be “ridiculously optimistic” about the country’s cultural development. Besides, we cannot look at the hundreds of billions of revenue from a few films and assume that the entire Vietnamese cinema industry is bright.
Petition with many seals and signatures of businesses in the film industry.
This increase in VAT shows that the favor to industry is gone, and culture is being let loose.
"Private units like ours, without government incentives, would soon be eliminated. The private sector is a business that requires money from one's own pocket. If the costs are not enough, no matter how much one loves the profession, one cannot do it. Without incentives, culture and art may no longer exist," People's Artist Tran Luc once shared with Tien Phong.
A series of representatives of enterprises operating in the film industry in Vietnam such as BHD Vietnam, CJ CGV Vietnam, Lotte Cinema Vietnam, Thien Ngan Film Joint Stock Company, Mega GS, HK Film, ABC Pictures, Chanh Phuong Film... many famous directors and producers such as directors Charlie Nguyen, Nguyen Quang Dung, Nhat Trung, Ham Tran, Hoang Quan, Tran Thi Bich Ngoc... agreed and signed the document sent to the Government and the National Assembly to propose adjusting the value added tax (VAT) rate in the Draft Law on Value Added Tax.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/danh-thue-vat-10-voi-linh-vuc-van-hoa-tu-nam-2025-ar909814.html
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