Report: FG may reintroduce telecom tax in 2023

The Federal Government is reconsidering imposing excise duty on telecoms services after it was suspended, which would compel operators to adjust the rates of calls and data upward.

This is contained in a document titled ‘Invitation to a One Day Public Hearing and Submission of Memoranda on the 2022 Finance Bill,’ released by the House of Representatives Committee on Finance.

It indicated that suspended excise duty on telecoms services may feature again in the 2022 Finance Bill, which is currently before the National Assembly.

According to the committee, it is conducting a public hearing on the 2022 Finance Bill and one of the subjects on the agenda is the discussion of telecoms as one of the goods liable to excise duty.

Part of the document read, “Telecommunication services provided in Nigeria shall be charged with duties of excise at the rates specified under the duty column in the Schedule as the President may by Order prescribe pursuant to section 13 of this Act.”

It added all telecommunication services in Nigeria shall be charged with duties of excise at “the rates specified under the duty column in the Schedule as the President may by Order prescribe pursuant to section 13 of this Act”.

According to the bill, the amendment was necessary to expand the scope of duties beyond the telecoms sector to avoid an undue focus on levying duties on this sector, adding that would remove the limitation of the scope of services that may be subject to excise duty. Punch