The Central Asian country of Tajikistan has proposed a 3% excise tax on mobile phone use. The bill was passed last week by the Parliamentary lower house, but still needs to be passed by the Upper House before heading to the president’s desk for approval.
According to reports citing Finance Minister Safarali Najmiddinov, the new excise tax on mobile services will let Tajikistan’s state budget receive an additional US$6.8 million a year that will be spent on the development of the social sector. Mobile phone users will not be greatly impacted by the new law. The annual income of all mobile providers in the country makes US$409 million and operators will pay additional tax at the expense of their incomes.
However, a member of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) was perturbed by the new measure. According to IRP Chief Muhiddin Kabiri, the new tax will mainly affect users of mobile phones since the introduction of the tax will lead to a definite increase in prices for mobile services.
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