Foreign advertisement does not pay any fees in Paraguay

By Paola Spaienza

Foreign advertisement and publicity are not affected by taxes neither fees in our country. For that reason, Senator Ramón Gómez Verlangieri recently proposed a new bill which aims to regularize tax payment on foreign trade.

It also helps support the development and promotion of national audiovisual advertisement. Senator Verlangieri states that this law will adjust the tax payment for all foreign companies, which is currently issued arbitrarily without them paying any fee at all. If this bill is enacted, it will turn out being completely fair due to the fact that national and domestic production pays all corresponding taxes for advertising cases.

The law also seeks to update and validate situations lacking of legal framework in order to enable national companies to continue growing, developing and, in that way, being able to compete in the regional market or even worldwide. The Senator also explains that this project has been a result from the demand of audiovisual companies and consumers for many years. The proper functioning of this law should allow to support, promote and encourage national advertising companies to create and produce their own audiovisual work as well as their dissemination and preservation.

It will also be of great benefit to people who are related to the Paraguayan audiovisual production and will also have an important social impact with significant advantages for all creative writers, cameramen, lighting technicians, sound engineers, producers, editors, post producers, directors, photographers and all personnel involved with the media.

Nevertheless, the chambers of Announcers of Paraguay (Cámaras de Anunciantes del Paraguay) (CAP) and Television of Paraguay (Televisión del Paraguay) (Catelpar) have expressed their opposition to this Project basically because it requires the payment of a 100% fee besides the costs involved in the commercial production of foreigners.