Economic Reporter :
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts and country’s cellular phone operators urged the government to withdraw or reduce the proposed tax on SIM in new fiscal budget.
They said the proposed tax on SIM would appear as financial burden to the customers as well as the operators that might hamper the growth of the sector.
Talking to The New Nation, noted ICT expert Mustafa Jabbar said the move of taxation would slow down the economic growth as “mobile phone is now no longer a luxury rather it is turned into an essential part of our life”.
“The taxation on SIM would have direct impact on internet penetration,” he opined, adding that it is globally recognized that more internet penetration boost GDP growth.
Jabbar suggested the government to go for indirect taxation and said “government has the scope to generate more revenue through indirect taxation in the sector.”
The government proposed enhancement of supplementary duty on mobile phone SIM card by two percent while the existing duty is three percent.
“In order to enhance revenue collection from this sector (mobile phone), I am proposing to increase the rate of supplementary duty on SIM card related services from three percent to five percent,” said finance minister A M A Muhith while presenting the national budget in the Jatiya Sangsad yesterday.
He said: “In FY 2015-16 budget, we have significantly reduced the tax on SIM card and this has resulted in the reduction in revenue collection from mobile phone sectors.”
However, country’s leading cellular phone operator Grameenphone said the increase of supplementary duty on SIM will put further financial burden on the customers.
“From now on for BDT 100 talk time, a customer has to spend BDT 121.75,” said Grameenphone chief corporate affairs officer Mahmud Hossain, adding, “The mobile phone industry in Bangladesh is highly taxed; taxing it further will disrupt its role in building Digital Bangladesh.”
Besides, another operator Robi said Bangladesh remain the lowest ARPU (average revenue per user) country in the world and with this increased levy, mobile phone cost will increase, which will also affect the subscribers.
“We forecast that overall revenue to decline as voice and data usage could ease off following the tax increase. We would request government to roll back supplementary duty,” said Ekram Kabir, Vice President of Communications and Corporate Responsibility.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts and country’s cellular phone operators urged the government to withdraw or reduce the proposed tax on SIM in new fiscal budget.
They said the proposed tax on SIM would appear as financial burden to the customers as well as the operators that might hamper the growth of the sector.
Talking to The New Nation, noted ICT expert Mustafa Jabbar said the move of taxation would slow down the economic growth as “mobile phone is now no longer a luxury rather it is turned into an essential part of our life”.
“The taxation on SIM would have direct impact on internet penetration,” he opined, adding that it is globally recognized that more internet penetration boost GDP growth.
Jabbar suggested the government to go for indirect taxation and said “government has the scope to generate more revenue through indirect taxation in the sector.”
The government proposed enhancement of supplementary duty on mobile phone SIM card by two percent while the existing duty is three percent.
“In order to enhance revenue collection from this sector (mobile phone), I am proposing to increase the rate of supplementary duty on SIM card related services from three percent to five percent,” said finance minister A M A Muhith while presenting the national budget in the Jatiya Sangsad yesterday.
He said: “In FY 2015-16 budget, we have significantly reduced the tax on SIM card and this has resulted in the reduction in revenue collection from mobile phone sectors.”
However, country’s leading cellular phone operator Grameenphone said the increase of supplementary duty on SIM will put further financial burden on the customers.
“From now on for BDT 100 talk time, a customer has to spend BDT 121.75,” said Grameenphone chief corporate affairs officer Mahmud Hossain, adding, “The mobile phone industry in Bangladesh is highly taxed; taxing it further will disrupt its role in building Digital Bangladesh.”
Besides, another operator Robi said Bangladesh remain the lowest ARPU (average revenue per user) country in the world and with this increased levy, mobile phone cost will increase, which will also affect the subscribers.
“We forecast that overall revenue to decline as voice and data usage could ease off following the tax increase. We would request government to roll back supplementary duty,” said Ekram Kabir, Vice President of Communications and Corporate Responsibility.
