FG Abolishes Excise Duty Tax On Telecoms Services

By Ayodele Oni

Relief has come for social media users in the country as the Federal Government abolished the five percent excise duty tax previously imposed on telecommunications services, including voice calls and data usage.

This is coming just as government said it earned over N600 billion in value-added tax from social media platform Facebook and other digital service providers such as Netflix and Amazon.

Mathew Osanekwu, the Special Adviser on Tax Policy to the Chairman of the Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, who made the revelations, stated that the development was made possible due to the recent tax reform policy of the federal government.

The National Orientation Agency, (NOA), who announced this on its official X (formerly Twitter) page on Thursday, quoted the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, who said that President Bola Tinubu ordered the tax’s removal during discussions on the recently passed Finance Act.

Maida emphasized that this decision is expected to alleviate cost pressures for millions of mobile users across the country.

He noted that the President’s intervention will prevent additional financial strain on citizens while supporting the digital economy.

“This development is expected to bring relief to over 171 million active telecom users in Nigeria, many of whom have faced a 50 percent tariff increase implemented earlier this year.”

The tax, which applied to both voice calls and data subscriptions, was introduced under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Initially announced in 2022, the tax faced widespread criticism from telecom operators and consumer rights groups, who argued that it would increase the financial burden on Nigerians amid rising living costs.

Government had justified the tax as a means to boost revenue generation amidst declining oil earnings, claiming it aligned with global taxation practices.