Federal Government of Nigeria imposes new bill on phone calls
The Federal Government of Nigeria has imposed a new levy on phone calls in order to support free healthcare for Nigeria’s Vulnerable Group.
The telecom tax is set at a minimum of one kobo per second for phone calls in order to raise revenue for free healthcare for Nigeria’s most needy citizens.
This is stated in the National Health Insurance Authority Bill 2021, which was signed into law on May 19, 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Children under the age of five, pregnant women, the elderly, physically and intellectually challenged people, and the impoverished are all defined as vulnerable groups in the law.
It said that the money from the vulnerable group fund will be used to provide subsidies for vulnerable persons’ health insurance coverage as established by the council, as well as to pay for indigent health insurance premiums.
Taiwo Oyedele, fiscal policy partner and Africa tax head at PwC, claimed the new telecommunications tax is comparable to a 9% tax on GSM calls because call rates are levied at 11 kobo per second, according to his Twitter account.
Mr Taiwo Oyedele also tweeted that
The telecom sector is an enabler for other sectors of the economy. It is important to avoid excessive taxation which may directly hamper the sector and indirectly hurt other sectors and the economy as a whole. Mr Taiwo Oyedele communicated
