Ranging from 1 June, each airtime recharge will appeal to a 5 % tax that can go to the federal government, and telecommunications corporations (telcos) are weighing the impacts it will have on the business and customers.
Consultants say the implementation of the tax will improve the burden of taxation that operators within the telecommunication business are dealing with and will see customers paying extra for telecoms providers.
The 5 % tax on airtime was just lately added and authorized within the Finance Act 2021, which took impact from January 1, 2022. The tax was a part of a brand new excise obligation record that included drinks, non-alcoholic drinks.
Excise duties are inside taxes which can be levied on sale of particular items and providers, resembling alcohol, gas, and tobacco – usually items the federal government desires to discourage using. It’s an oblique tax that’s not paid by the shoppers instantly – as an alternative, the excise tax is imposed on the provider or the producer, who then contains it within the product value.
The inclusion of telecommunication providers supplied in Nigeria is the newest change to the excise obligation regime within the nation. Within the case of airtime recharge, the federal government would impose it on the community operators, which can in flip move it on the subscribers. President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly authorized the 5 % tax on airtime in Might 2022.
“Sure, it should have an effect on the customers of telecommunications providers as a result of the telecom corporations are already asking for an upward evaluation of the worth paid by the buyer,” mentioned Ajibola Olude, chief working officer of Affiliation Telecommunication Firms in Nigeria (ATCON).
The proposal for 40 % upward evaluation of the worth of telecom providers was championed in a letter written by the Affiliation of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) on Might 4, 2022, a day earlier than President Muhammadu Buhari authorized the 5 % tax.
The 40 % hike implies the worth ground of calls will rise to N8.95 from N6.4, whereas the worth cap for SMS will increase to N5.61 from N4.
“We’re not proponents of the request however we supported it as a result of it’s apparent that there was a common improve within the value degree of every thing,” Olude mentioned.
In line with the federal government, a part of the proceeds from the tax can be used to fund free healthcare for the weak group in Nigeria. That is included within the Nationwide Well being Insurance coverage Authority Invoice 2021 signed into regulation by Buhari final week.
Part 26 subsection 1c of the brand new well being regulation states that the supply of cash for the Weak Group Fund contains “telecommunications tax, not lower than one kobo per second of GSM calls.”
The well being regulation describes the Weak Group Fund as cash put aside to pay for healthcare providers for weak Nigerians who can’t pay for medical health insurance. It’s supposed to subsidise the price of provision of healthcare providers to weak individuals in Nigeria. Nigerians below the weak group embody kids below 5, pregnant ladies, aged, bodily, and mentally challenged individuals, and indigent folks as could also be outlined sometimes.
Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of ALTON, mentioned the imposition of 5 % tax on the business constituted a further burden on operators who’re already grappling with a number of taxation.
“The behaviour of the federal government shouldn’t be serving to issues for anybody. As at at this time, we now have about 36 levies and taxes in opposition to operators,” Adebayo mentioned in an interview on Channels Tv. “A further 5 % excise tax has now been thought-about efficient for the primary of June. All of those have an effect on the sector, and that’s why we would like the regulators to see that that is the place we’re.”
Learn additionally: Telcos’ deliberate 40% hike threatens digital inclusion drive
Rotimi Akapo and Quasim Odunmbaku, of their guide, ‘Nigerian Telecommunications Legislation and Rules’ revealed in 2021, recognized 47 taxes and levies paid by telcos to the three ranges of presidency in Nigeria. States and native authorities areas are concerned within the assortment of 32 taxes and levies.
Telcos resembling MTN have seen their tax contribution balloon lately as the federal government will increase the variety of taxes and levies. In 2021, for instance, MTN paid N757 billion in taxes to all Nigerian authorities businesses and N618.7 billion to the Federal Inland Income Service (FIRS), representing about 10 % of the entire N6.3 trillion remitted by the service in 2021. This can be a important improve from the N46.9 billion and N95.5 billion MTN paid in 2019 and 2020 respectively for firm earnings tax to the FIRS.
The federal government is anticipating to fund the Nigerian price range for 2022 from the proceeds of the 5 % excise obligation. At a perform in 2021, Ben Akabueze, director-general of the Price range Workplace of the Federation, mentioned Nigeria was lagging behind most of Africa in implementing the excise tax on the sector.
“Final yr, we discovered that 51 nations in Africa have excise on airtime expenses; so we’re taking a look at that in addition to an space (to tax),” mentioned Akabueze.
Nevertheless, whereas it advantages the federal government, it will increase the price of manufacturing for the business which isn’t good for capital importation.
“I feel the federal government shouldn’t base its income technology on the telecom and ICT business greater than obligatory,” Olude mentioned. “Authorities ought to direct the taxes collected to develop different sectors which have potential to present them additional income.”
