COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER ISA PANTAMI KICKS AGAINST PROPOSED 5% TAX ON CALLS AND DATA.
Written by AIGBOKHAEBHO OKHUELEIGBE on August 1, 2022
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, has kicked against renewed attempts by the Federal Government to add a 5% excise duty to telecommunication services.
When implemented, this will bring the total tax telecom consumers pay for telecom services to 12.5%.
Recall that the Federal Government announced it will implement a 5% inclusive excise duty on telecommunications services in Nigeria as was made known by the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, at a stakeholders’ forum on the implementation of excise duty on telecommunications services in Nigeria which was held last Thursday in Abuja.
The minister who was represented by the Assistant Chief Officer of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Frank Oshanipin, at the event organized by the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), said the 5% excise duty had been in the finance Act: 2020 but was not implemented.
Pantami kicked against this arrangement while speaking in Lagos at the ongoing exhibition organised by the Nigeria Office for Developing the indigenous Telecom Sector, an agency domiciled in the Nigerian Communications Commission.
According to him, the telecom sector already contributes a lot to the Nigerian economy, and adding more taxes could impact negatively its growth.
He urged the government to consider taxing other sectors of the economy that are not contributing to national development.
