Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, and the National Communications Commission, NCC, have submitted a GSM Tax Bill to the National Assembly which would increase taxation for Nigerians, bringing more hardships on a suffering people.
The bill seeks to empower the Federal Government to impose 9 percent taxation on all calls, texts and data packages if passed into law, reports say.
Nigerian will be made to forfeit 9 percent of their airtime and mobile data. For instance, if a mobile phone user recharges his or her phones with an airtime worth N1000, it will attract a taxation of N90.
Nigerians are already paying taxes for using mobile phone networks and it is left to be seen if this proposed law will go down well with the masses.
The general secretary of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, described the GSM Bill as a bad policy with potential to deepen poverty in the society.
“We believe it is a bad policy. It will visit more hardship on Nigerians by the very nature of the tax,” he said.
“Even the small traders depend of communication via GSM to be able to transact their businesses and therefore the tax that is imposed across board is regressive.
“We always insist that you must do a tax system that does not put unnecessary burden on the poor,” Dr. Peter said.
Also, the President of Civil Liberties Organization, Igho Akeregha, said the planned GSM tax is an obnoxious and tyrannical plan.
Igho said the plan will further impoverish Nigerians by way of foisting devious tax on them.
“The CLO will definitely join forces with our allies in labor and the CSO’s to resist the GSM tax which clearly is an extortionist agenda.
“Enough is enough of this undemocratic assault on Nigerians.”
