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Fri, Mar

Telecom Services: FG To Implement 5% Excise Duty

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The Federal Government (FG) has announced that it would commence the implementation of a 5% inclusive excise duty on telecommunications services in Nigeria. This was disclosed on Thursday by the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed at a stakeholder’s forum organized by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).


The minister who was represented by the Assistant Chief Officer of the Ministry, Frank Oshanipin stated that the 5% excise duty was in the Finance Act (2020) but it was not implemented.

Oshanipin quoted the minister, “Payments are to be made monthly, on or before the 21st. of every month. The duty rate was not captured in the Act because it is the responsibility of the president to fix the rate on excise duties and he has fixed 5% for telecommunications services, which include GSM.

“It is public knowledge that our revenue cannot run our financial obligations, so we are to shift our attention to non-oil revenue. The responsibility of generating revenue to run the government lies with us all”.

The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo said the payment of the tax would be the subscriber’s responsibility.

According to him, “It means that subscribers will now pay 12.5% tax on telecom services, we will not be able to subsidize the 5% excise duty on telecom services. This is as a result of the 39 multiple taxes we are already paying coupled with the epileptic power situation as we spend so much on diesel”.

On his part, the Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Umar Danbatta said, “We consider it imperative that these implementing agencies should also meet directly with telecom industry stakeholders to address areas of concern.

“As the regulator of the telecoms industry, we are responsible for ensuring that industry stakeholders understand their fiscal and other obligations, so that they can maintain full compliance with government policy”.

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