FG Approves Five Per Cent Tariff Hike On All Calls

LATEST reports from TheCable indicate that the Federal Governnent has approved five per cent collection of excise duty on telephone recharge cards and vouchers.

The five per cent charge is part of new items on the list of goods liable for excise duty on the Finance Act in the country.

Excise duty is a levy charged at the time of manufacturing. It is also a form of indirect tax on the sale or consumption of certain goods, products, services or activities such as tobacco, alcohol, narcotics, gambling etc., mainly to discourage their use and consumption. Nigeria’s Finance Act has extended the list to include beverages, and non-alcoholic drinks, among others.

According to the report, which made reference to a circular signed by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, that directed the Nigerian Customs to create a tariff line for the collection of the excise on mobile telephones, electricity meters (components) and set up boxes at five per cent.

The Federal Government is expected to raise at least N150 billion from the duty, while customs will pocket about N10 billion, a seven per cent collection fee.

The new 5 per cent levy on recharge cards will increase call costs and add to other taxes levied on telcos operating in the country. Some of these levies include the right of way charges, National Information Technology Development Fund Levy, National Cybersecurity Fund, and Annual Operating Levy in addition to existing statutory taxes like tertiary education tax, companies income tax, and value-added tax.

Except the phone line you are calling is switched off, get ready to pay 5% higher tariff.