They want to set a 3% rate for Internet advertising

The authenticity of the document received by RBC was confirmed by two IT sector sources familiar with the matter. And if in the first edition of the amendments (introduced in April, adopted at first reading) it was only about loan advertising, then in the edition prepared for the second reading clauses regarding all online advertising appeared.

The text of the bill proposes two innovations. The first is to complement the law with an article on a single rate for all Internet advertising distributors – both advertisers and operators – of 3% of quarterly income starting April 1, 2025. It is not specified exactly how this will be done. payments, but it is already known that control will fall to the RKN.

At the same time, broadcasters of mandatory all-Russian television channels (“First”, “Russia-1”, “Russia-24”, etc.) will be exempt from paying the fee. And from foreign companies whose advertising is aimed at Russians, the fee will be collected indirectly, through a domestic contractor. Upon concluding an agreement, foreigners will be warned about the withholding of funds in favor of the Russian budget.

The funds should then be allocated to state aid for domestic software developers and official registration and to support the “development and operation of information resources.” The government will establish a list of them.

The authorities also want to force aggregators of goods and services to distribute social advertising from March 1, 2025. The volume is supposed to be at least 5% annually in all media available to the company.

It is clarified that the requirement applies only to sites with a daily audience of more than 200 thousand users in the Russian Federation. Attendance will also be determined by the RKN, which will set up special counters at the aggregator sites.

RBC reminds that the idea of ​​​​introducing a general fee for the “distribution of advertising and promotion services” on the Internet is no longer new, since it was proposed in the draft federal budget for 2025-2027 as part of one of the measures; the implementation of the national project “Data Economy”.

Market players are confident that if the fee is introduced, it will ultimately fall on the shoulders of buyers of advertising space through higher prices. In addition, it will complicate the work of SMEs, but will not affect the parallel segment of the industry. And the funds received will be used to help projects that alone could not demonstrate effectiveness.

This measure could lead to “a disruption of free competition and balance in the advertising market, and will also create a non-commercial advantage for other advertising platforms and channels,” according to Yandex.