By Daniel Tyokua
The Minister of Communications and digital economy, Prof. Isa Pantami said he rejected 15 attempts to increase telecom tax on calls and data from the beginning of 2022 to date.
He said from 2019 to date, there was no sector that has not increase the prices of it products and services but the telecommunications sector was not part of it because the Ministry under his watch halted it considering the burden on the users.
Pantami disclosed this in Abuja, during the inauguration of presidential committee on review of excise duty tax.
The Minister explained that the ministry has been recording some challenges in the digital economy which if care is not taken could be a barrier to the development of ICT sector in few years.
He said: “We have been recording some challenges in the sector that if care is not taken could be a barrier to the development of this sector in the few years to come.
“The excess taxation and some times multiple taxation in the telecom sector as it is today is worrisome. The level of taxation being enforced is highly worrisome, from August 2022 till date the number of taxes collected were 39, but presently the ICT sector is overburdened with so many categories of taxes to the extend that we have 41 categories of taxes.
“Presently there are 41 taxes being paid in the ICT a lone, from federal and state levels, particularly in the telecommunications sector. Aside the 41 taxes there is also multiple taxation.
“The same tax collected at the Federal level, some states insist that they we collect, if care is not taken this will jeopardize the gain we have achieved so far in the sector.
“The economic situation in the country didn’t allowed us to add another burden to the poor citizens that are suffering, within this three years there have been 15 attempts to increase the price of telecommunications service, in all of them I retain my position, by saying no. We will not allowed that. We have apologized to the operators that we know their challenges.
“At the government level we will try to address the challenges to reduce the cost of production so that they will be able to get profit”
