The Federal Government has placed a new tax on phone calls in Nigeria.
This, according to the FG, is to fund free healthcare for the Vulnerable Group in Nigeria.
Recall that telecommunication companies had made moves to increase the price of their services as a result of an unfavourable operating climate.
In the National Health Insurance Authority Bill 2021 signed by the President Muhammadu Buhari last week, section 26 of the act provides that the source of money for the Vulnerable Group Fund includes telecommunications tax, not less than one kobo per second of GSM calls.
“S.26 of this new law imposes a telecommunications tax of not less than 1kobo per second on GSM calls. With call rates at about 11kobo per second, this translates to a 9 per cent tax on GSM calls,” Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader at Price Waterhouse Coopers, Taiwo Oyedele, said
“The tax is one of the sources of money to the Vulnerable Group Fund to subsidise the provision of healthcare to the group defined to include children under five, pregnant women, the aged, physically and mentally challenged, and the indigent as may be defined from time to time.”
The Vulnerable Group Fund is money that will be budgeted to pay for healthcare services for vulnerable Nigerians that cannot afford health insurance in a bid to subsidise the cost of provision of health care services to vulnerable people in the country.
The new act provides that every resident in Nigeria is expected to obtain health insurance as the act provides several options for funding such as basic health care provision fund to the authority, health insurance levy, telecommunications tax, among others.
