SIM tax reduced
Mobile phone operators are not happy with government's proposal to reduce the duty on SIM cards to Tk 600 from Tk 800.
Government also proposed to impose $0.55 and $0.65 taxes on 32kb (kilobyte) and 64kb storage capacity SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards. Earlier, there was no tax on SIM cards based on its capacity.
The operators welcomed the SIM card valuation proposal, but expressed their frustration over the SIM taxes. They said the existing and proposed SIM tax would not help the industry to move ahead. They are still hopeful that the government would rethink to reduce duties on SIM.
“It is utterly insignificant,” said Abu Saeed Khan, secretary general of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators in Bangladesh (AMTOB). “This reduction cannot make any difference to whatsoever damage it has been causing to the industry.”
Kazi Monirul Kabir, chief communication officer of Grameenphone, however, said, “The reduction of duty on SIM is a good move, but government should review taxes on the total sector.”
The phone users, however, pay about Tk 100 to Tk 150 for every SIM as the operators subsidise the rest with 15 percent VAT (value added tax).
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