Taxes & Advertising Compliance

TAXES & ADVERTISING COMPLIANCE

Taxes on Digital Ads and the Use of Personal Data: The Alliance works to exempt news media entities from taxes on digital advertising or the use of personal data. These revenue lines are appealing to lawmakers as levies on platforms, but they have a disproportionate impact on a key source of publishing revenue and impose severe pass-through costs on local businesses and nonprofits who advertise with news publishers. As a model bill, Maryland’s digital ad tax explicitly exempts news media entities.

Advertising Deductibility: Advertising is vital to the economic stability of the news and magazine media industry and a critical resource in support of high-quality, original journalism. The consequences of changing the current treatment of advertising would ripple through the entire economy from media companies, advertisers, and their agencies to the multitude of industries that depend on advertising to move their products and services. Through our leadership with The Ad Coalition, the Alliance works to ensure lawmakers recognize the impact of advertising on job and economic growth, which depends on the continued ability to deduct advertising costs as “ordinary and necessary” business expenses.

Advertising Compliance: The Alliance actively monitors compliance obligations in advertising across a broad array of issues. From Federal Trade Commission rulemaking to state legislation, the Alliance advocates for preserved access to a key source of revenue that sustains the work of publishers.

News/Media Alliance members can receive regular updates on tax and advertising compliance issues by contacting membership@newsmediaalliance.org.

Latest Articles

Rebecca Frank / April 20, 2020

Fixing Online Advertising and News: A Matter of Life and Death

This post appears on Medium - click here to read the full article. Below is a short excerpt. As the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes life in the 21st century, the news industry’s long history does not protect it from fundamental change. One major issue the crisis has illuminated is many advertisers’ ... Read More

Staff / April 3, 2020

Statement: Ad Tech Companies: Stop Journalism-Harming Keyword Blocking Practices

The News Media Alliance and Digital Content Next call on digital advertisers and digital advertising companies to stop using keyword blocking practices that jeopardize the sustainability of high-quality journalism during this critical time ... Read More

Paul J. Boyle / March 16, 2020

Proposed Postal Rate Increases Would be Unsustainable for Newspapers

Currently, USPS can raise or lower rates for products such as Periodicals and Marketing Mail (e.g. TMC products) on an annual basis, with smaller, predictable rate increases that do not exceed the inflation-based price cap. But this pricing structure that brought newspapers predictable pricing could be in jeopardy if a ... Read More

Paul J. Boyle / October 16, 2019

Postal Service Announces New Rates

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on October 9 filed notice for new postal rates for market-dominant products, which includes Marketing Mail and Periodicals. If approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) in the coming weeks, the new rates will take effect on January 26, 2020 ... Read More

Staff / June 25, 2019

Video: Highlights from the House Judiciary Hearing on Online Platforms and the Free Press

On June 11, Alliance President and CEO David Chavern testified before the House Judiciary Committee on "Online Platforms and Market Power, Part 1: The Free and Diverse Press," a hearing about the impact tech platforms like Google and Facebook have on news publishers ... Read More

Staff / June 20, 2019

Tech Spokesman Says Publishers Keep 70% of Digital Ad Revenue — Which Doesn’t Seem to Reflect Anyone’s Actual Experience

During last week's hearing, a bold assertion was made by Matthew Schruers of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a representative of the major tech platforms, stating that news publishers make a 70 percent and higher share from digital ad revenue delivered through tech platforms ... Read More

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