The Federal Government of Nigeria has put on hold, the introduction of five percent excise duty in the digital economy sector, proposed by the Minister of Finance.
Isa Pantami, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, made this known in Abuja, during the inauguration of a committee that will review the policy.
The Minister said he personally rejected the policy because of the effects it would have on the digital economy and consequently advised President Muhammadu Buhari against it.
According to the Minister, the introduction of excise duty in the telecommunication and information and communications technology industry would definitely jeopardise the successes already recorded within the industry.
He also noted that currently the ICT sector is over-burdened with multiple taxations both at the federal and state level.
He pointed out that there are more than 41 taxes that telecommunication and ICT companies are paying and that it would be unfair to subject them to payment of excise duty.
Meanwhile, the federal government has inaugurated a presidential committee on the review of the excise duty in digital economy.
The committee has Pantami as chairman and the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed as a member.
Other members are the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta, the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Muhammad Nami and representatives of the telecommunication industries.