The Federal Government has halted the implementation of a 5% excise duty in the digital economy sector, a tax previously proposed by the Minister of Finance.
Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, made the announcement in Abuja during the inauguration of a committee to review the policy.
Pantami stated that he personally opposed the policy and advised President Muhammadu Buhari against it due to the consequences for the digital economy.
According to him, the imposition of excise duty in the telecommunications and information and communications technology industries would jeopardize the industry’s current successes.
Pantami also stated that the ICT sector is currently overburdened with multiple federal and state taxes.
He went on to say that telecommunications and ICT companies already pay more than 41 taxes and that subjecting them to excise duty would be unfair.
Meanwhile, the federal government has established a presidential committee to review the excise duty in the digital economy.
The committee is chaired by Isah Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, and includes Mrs Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance.
Other members include Professor Umar Danbatta, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Muhammad Nami, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and representatives from the telecommunications industries.
