Tax on top-up cards
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Starting on June 1, local telecom operators MPT, Telenor, and Ooredoo will place a five per cent commercial tax on top-up card usage for mobile phones.
According to the 2015/2016 Union Tax Law, commercial tax will be raised by five per cent, and telecom operators must raise taxes on mobile phone usage on behalf of Union Government.
Therefore, customers will receive Ks 952 when they buy a top-up card worth Ks 1,000; the remaining Ks 48 will be paid to government as commercial tax
The tax raise was initially announced by telecom operators last year.
Most customers are not willing to pay taxes on top-up cards and in the market, and Ks 1,000 top-up cards lead in sales, said mobile shop proprietors.
Over 18 million total SIM cards from the three telecom operators were sold between August 2014 and April 2015.
An independent telecom commission will be formed by the end of this year.
