The Bill for an Act to establish the Communication Service Tax has passed its first reading at the Senate on Wednesday October 2.
Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, who sponsored the Bill said 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
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.”