Govt bows down to the pressure of operators
The National Board of Revenue on Thursday reduced the tax on mobile SIM card and VAT on 3G service licence fess by 50 per cent as the government bowed down to the pressure of mobile operators.
The NBR reduced the SIM tax to Tk 300 from Tk 600 and VAT on the 3G mobile service licence and spectrum fees to 7.5 per cent from 15 per cent.‘The board will issue a statutory regulatory order within a day or two but the order will be effective from today [Thursday],’ said an NBR official.
The mobile operators have demanded of the government to reduce the SIM tax for months while a number of government agencies and high ups, on behalf of the operators, also lobbied with the government.
The government in 2011 reduced the SIM tax to Tk 600 from Tk 800.
Mobile operators, however, said that ‘high’ SIM tax was affecting the growth of the telecoms sector as the operators sell SIM card as low as Tk 100 but paid Tk 600 in taxes against each SIM.
The operators have also demanded that the NBR totally withdraw VAT on 3G mobile service licences before the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission hold an auction for awarding four licences.
The BTRC will hold the auction in July for awarding three 3G licences to three operators out of five existing operators and one licence to a new foreign mobile operator. State-run Teletalk has already launched 3G operation.
The finance minister AMA Muhith, however, agreed to reduce VAT to 7.5 per cent from the existing standard VAT of 15 per cent.
Mobile operators have been in loggerheads with the government over the payment of 15 per cent VAT for 2G licence and spectrum charges but the operators lost most of the legal battles in this regard.
An NBR official said that reduction of VAT for 3G licence would not be applicable for 2G licences held by six existing operators.
-With New Age input
