The Association of Telecommunication
Companies of Nigeria has said the passing into law of the nine per cent
Communications Service Tax bill currently before the Senate would
deprive 20 million Nigerians access to telecommunications services.
This was contained in a statement issued
on Saturday in Lagos by ATCON’s President, Mr. Olusola Teniola, after
he led a delegation of his members on a courtesy visit to the Senate
President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
He urged the Senate to use its legislative powers to reduce the nine per cent CST to 0.2 per cent.
According to the ATCON president, the
nine per cent new tax on telecommunication services being proposed by
the National Assembly will exclude 20 million Nigerians, which represent
10 per cent of the country’s population, from accessing
telecommunication services, the News Agency of Nigeria reports .
“ATCON’s mandate is to make meaningful
input to all aspects of economic development, including legislation and
management of telecommunication industry, so it continues to oil growth
and development. The ongoing work on the proposed nine per cent
Communication Service Tax Bill is a trending subject.
“We will be happy to support the
government to make the best of our tax efforts, which certainly are key
components of strengthening the economy and sustaining our industry.
Contrary to uninformed opinions, we do not object to reforms in
taxation, neither do we regard taxes as burden,” Teniola said.
He added, “We ask for a reconsideration
of the CST Bill; we recommend, as an alternative, a tax reform that
increases the current Value Added Tax by a new one per cent added for
the purpose of development of communications. Another alternative is
that the tax being proposed in the bill should be limited to 0.2 per
cent.”
Teniola pleaded that the template, with
which the telecommunication industry was viewed and assessed, should be
slightly modified.
“The truth is that there is severe
over-taxation in our industry. It explains the slow penetration of
services into areas yet to be covered by our services across the
country. Contrary to popular belief, telecommunication operators and
service providers are barely sustaining their existence in these hard
times.
“There are reasons to suggest that the
desire to widen the tax net is laudable and that as things stand
telecommunication is about one of the few areas where the net-capture
may be widened,” the ATCON boss stated.
Responding, Senate President, Bukola
Saraki assured the ATCON leadership that the Senate would only make laws
that would boost the economy.
“The ICT sector is critical to the
Nigerian economy; as a result, the Senate will never make laws that will
push the sector into a negative performance. Rather, the Senate will
make laws that will increase its performance to generate revenue and
create jobs,” Saraki said.
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