21st March, 2023
By Jessica Dogo
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the exemption of the digital economy sector from five per cent excise duty imposed on some other goods, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami has said.
The Minister spoke on Tuesday at a press conference by the Presidential Review Committee on Excise Duty in Abuja.
He said that Buhari had on March 6 approved the exemption of the digital economy sector on the 5 per cent excise duty because it would harm the Nigeria citizens.
Pantami had on Sept. 5, 2022 announced the suspension of the imposition of a 5 per cent excise duty on the sector.
According to the him, 41 categories of taxes, levies and charges are already in the digital economy sector; hence there is no justification for an additional excise.
Pantami said: “There is no need for excise duty in the telecom sector because the industry is already heavily taxed up to 41 taxes.
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“The sector has been contributing hugely to Nigeria’s economy; more tax burden destroys the industry.
“We increased revenue generated by 594 per cent from N51 billion quarterly to N481 billion quarterly.
“This is the only sector where the prices of services have been reduced. There is no justification for the government to impose more burden on its poor Citizens.
“Many MSMEs and SMEs depend on the sector for survival; if the tax is increased, the impact will take a toll on these businesses.”
On his part, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, reiterated the commission’s commitment to improving the telecom industry.
He said the reduction of data had been the main target of the commission, adding that the average 1 gigabit of data had dropped to N335 from N350.
Dabatta called Nigerians to report mobile network operators charging exorbitant prices for data.
(NAN)