NATCOMS, FG in Court Over Multiple Taxes on Telecom Services

The National Association of Telecommunication Subscribers (NATCOMS) has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over its imposition of multiple taxes on telecom services.

Investors King gathered that telecommunication subscribers have decried the government’s plan to add a 5 percent excise duty on the already existing telecom services taxes, hence the suit move.

The National President, NATCOMS, Adeolu Ogunbanjo stated that the suit filed is aimed at halting the implementation of the excise duty and putting an end to the continuous imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) on telecom services for users.

Ogunbanjo, in the suit filed at the Federal High Court Ikoyi, prayed the court to declare Value Added Tax on telecom services as unconstitutional and illegal as well as declare the imposition of excise duty on telecoms as null and void.

He said, “There are too many taxes on telecom service. Putting too many taxes on it is not fair. When you buy airtime, you pay VAT. Why are we still paying VAT for the services?”

The suit filed by the NATCOMS reads in part: “A declaration that the imposition and implementation of Value Added Tax on telecommunication services, as taxable services by Section 2 of the VAT ACT as amended, by the 7th – 9th Defendants and the imposition and implementation of Excise Duty on telecommunication services by Section 21(2) of the Excise Act as amended by Section 37 of the Finance ACT, by the 7th – 10th Defendants amount to double taxation on the plaintiff’s members, who are telecommunication services consumers or subscribers in Nigeria, and therefore unconstitutional, illegal, unfair and null and void.”

In the suit, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Federal Inland Revenue Service, and the Nigerian Customs Service Board were on the defendants’ list.

Investors King recalls that the federal government disclosed its plan to introduce a 5 percent excise duty tax on telecom services in July 2022.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, explained that the tax was introduced to increase the government revenue. 

The excise duty tax on telecom services to be paid by consumers is projected to generate about N160.46 billion in 2023.