The Federal Government has suspended the proposed five per cent excise duty on telecommunications services. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami, announced the suspension in Abuja on Monday.
Pantami said the decision to suspend the tax was arrived at by stakeholders, asserting that the telecommunications sector already has challenges with multiple taxes.
The Minister announced this during the inaugural meeting of the Presidential Committee on Excise Duty for the Digital Economy Sector.
According to him, the introduction of excise duty in the telecommunication and information and communications technology industry would jeopardise the successes already recorded within the industry.
But the Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had accused him of sabotaging government efforts.
“Against the comments by Isa Ali Pantami, honourable minister of communication and digital economy, concerning the five per cent excise duty hike on telecoms services, it is worth noting that there was a circular stating the planned hike which was addressed to the communication minister and other relevant ministries and agencies of government,” the statement reads.
“The circular Referenced No. F. 17417/VI/286, dated 1st March 2022, and titled “Approval for Implementation of the 2022 Fiscal Policy Measures and Tariff Amendments” was addressed to different ministers, including the honourable minister, communications and digital economy and other heads of government agencies.
“Given the above position of Prof. Pantami, there could be the question of whether he was absent in the whole process that resulted in the Finance Act, which is a product of both the National Assembly and Federal Executive Council (FEC).
“Suffice this to say that before the Act, the Finance Bill would have been through the FEC of which Prof. Pantami is a member and the National Assembly. In other words, he was involved in the making of the Finance Act, which spells the said excise tariff hike policy.
“Therefore, he could not have had a point in his dissenting views even as the national assembly could not have contradicted itself on this matter because the parliament had passed the Finance Bill before President Muhammadu Buhari signed it into law,” he had said.
