Digital Economy gets exempted from paying five percent excise duty 

The Digital Economy sector has been exempted from paying the five percent excise duty by President Muhammadu Buhari. 

The excise duty payment  was put in place by the government  to  lessen the suffering that Nigerians have to go through.

The Federal Government had, on September 5th, 2022, suspended the duty on telecommunications services, following intervention of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, who has always argued that the sector was overburdened by multiple taxation  as already .

Consequently, government raised a committee to look into the matter and revert to the President.

The outcome of the Presidential Review Committee on Excise Duty in the Digital Economy Sector was unveiled on Tuesday, March 21st in Abuja, where the minister recalled that the duty was imposed without due consultation with the ministry and relevant stakeholders, hence his appeal for its suspension.

Pantami explained that even in the Finance Act of 2021, there was no mention of the duty, stressing it was a subsidiary legislation not captured in the law.

He said within the telecommunications subsector alone, there are 41 categories of taxes and charges.

Pantami said he stopped telecoms operators from reviewing charges upward due to his understanding that the move would further impoverish Nigerians.

He clarified that the negative impact of the excise duty on the sector would be felt by others that leverage telecommunication services, who will eventually transfer the burden to the citizenry.