NASS to revisit 5% excise duty on telecom, lottery activities

The National Assembly has proposed a 5 percent excise duty on telecommunications services, gaming, betting and lottery activities in the country.

Recall that former president, Muhammad Buhari had exempted the Telecom sector from the 5 per cent excise duty.

But the National Assembly has moved to reintroduce the duties to telecommunications and other services.

The president Bola Tinubu as at July suspended the 5per cent excise tax on telecommunications services in a bid to mitigate the adverse effect of inflation and tax increase on businesses and households.

But the National Assembly in a bill titled ‘Nigeria Tax Bill 2024’ seeks to reintroduce the excise duty.

According to the bill, the excisable transaction amount will be based on the service provider’s charge, whether in monetary terms or equivalent value.

The bill states: “Services, including telecommunications, gaming, gambling, betting, and lotteries, however, described, provided in Nigeria, shall be subject to excise duties at rates specified under the Tenth Schedule to this Act, in a manner prescribed by the Service.”

Additionally, the bill includes provisions related to currency exchange transactions involving the naira. It mandates that such transactions must not exceed the prevailing exchange rate at the official market, as authorized by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

In cases where the exchange rate of a transaction exceeds the official market rate, the excess amount will be payable as excise duty by the seller, assessed on a self-assessment basis under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act.