The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, has told subscribers to take their concerns and grievances over the additional charges on voice calls, SMS and data to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
The Minister, in a statement on Thursday, signed by his spokesperson, Mrs. Uwa Suleiman, said his office had been inundated with complaints and enquiries concerning the new Value Added Tax charges on voice calls and text messages introduced by Mobile Network Operators.
He however, maintained that he was not consulted on the matter and so not in a position to address the concerns.
The statement read: “While we appreciate the support and efforts of well-meaning Nigerians who have sought clarifications in a civil manner, we wish to inform the general public that the issues of VAT do not fall under the ministry’s purview.
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“The office of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy is not mandated to handle VAT.
“All further enquiries and clarifications may henceforth be directed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, being the proper institution for tax matters.
“In the same vein, we also wish to notify the general public that contrary to popular opinion in some quarters, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy had no prior consultation or awareness about the development.”
Recall that Telecommunication operators had announced they would charge VAT on products and services effective February 1, 2020 in line with the 7.5 VAT increment by the Federal Government as part of new fiscal measures to increase revenue from the non-oil sector.
Nigerians had taken to social media to lodge complaints of additional charges on text messages and voice calls to their network operators, the Nigerian Communications Commission and Patanmi.
