Senate
A former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume has proposed a Bill for an Act to
establish the Communication Service Tax which has passed its first
reading at the Senate on Wednesday October 2, according to a report by Punch.
The Borno Senator argued that the proposed tax which will be
replacing the 2.2 per cent increase in the Value Added Tax being planned
by the Federal Government, was better as an increased VAT will lead to
an increase in price of goods and services.
He added that the communication service tax which charges nine per
cent on calls and data will ensure the distribution of wealth in such a
way that it won’t affect the ordinary people.
The bill reads in part, “There shall be imposed, charged
payable and collected a monthly Communication Service Tax to be levied
on charges payable by a user of an electronic communication service
other than private electronic communication services.
“The tax shall be levied on electronic communication services supplied by service providers.
“For the purpose of this clause, the supply of any form of
recharges shall be considered as a charge for usage of electronic
communication service.
“The tax shall be levied on such electronic communication
services like voice calls, SMS, MMS, data usage – both from
telecommunication services providers and internet service – as well as
pay per view TV stations.
“The tax shall be paid together with the electronic
communication service charge payable to the service provider by the
consumer of the service.”