Some Nigerians have reacted against a new Federal Government directive to impose tax on telephone calls, according to a survey conducted by a Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The Nigerian government has proposed a new tax on phone calls in its efforts to meet the needs of citizens considered to be most vulnerable to health challenges.
This comes in addition to moves by telecommunication companies to increase the cost of their services as a result of the harsh economic realities.
The telecom tax is the equivalent of a minimum of one kobo per second for phone calls to boost the funds required to finance free healthcare for the vulnerable group in Nigeria.
It is contained in the National Health Insurance Authority Bill 2021, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari recently.
The act includes a provision under Section 26, subsection 1c, which states that the source of money for the Vulnerable Group Fund includes telecommunications tax, not less than one kobo per second of GSM calls.
The Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Taiwo Oyedele, said, “S.26 of this new law imposes a telecommunications tax of not less than 1 kobo per second on GSM calls. With call rates at about 11 kobo per second, this translates to a nine per cent tax on GSM calls.”
According to the act, the Vulnerable Group Fund is money budgeted to pay for the health insurance of vulnerable persons in a bid to subsidise the cost of provision of healthcare services to vulnerable people in the country.
For funding, the act provides several options such as basic healthcare provision fund to the authority; health insurance levy; telecommunications tax, and not less than one kobo per second of GSM calls.
Prof. Oyewale Tomori, professor of virology and former vice-chancellor of the Redeemer’s University, Ede, Nigeria, said on the surface it looks good, “but this would as usual end another sweet icing on a rotten cake”, as a result of poor implementation, lack of transparency and misuse of the proceeds from the taxation.
“If Nigerians must be taxed for talking, we must ensure that the talker benefits from putting his or her money where the mouth is.
“What have we achieved with taxation on tobacco and sugar-drenched beverages. The more we tax, the more lax our health system becomes. It is not the taxation that is the matter, but ensuring that the proceeds of the tax is used for the purpose intended for,” he explained.
According to Tomori, “the conduit pipes of greed and wastage are already opening up to siphon and drain the proceeds from the tax into their leaking and bottomless pockets.
“Perhaps when next the government taxes the air we breathe, better health may be assured and insured for the ordinary citizen,” he said.
