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Kenyan president proposes tax hike on money transfer services
Kenya’s biggest mobile phone operator Safaricom said in June it is opposed to a proposed tax rise on mobile phone-based transfers, arguing that it would likely mostly hurt the poor, most of whom do not have bank accounts and rely on mobile transfer services such as Safaricom’s M-Pesa.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Zambians, Wary of Taxpayer ID Rule, Opt for Mobile Money Rather Than Banks
Zambia’s government and its banks insist the country’s new taxpayer identification numbers aren’t used to collect additional taxes. But the public’s suspicions about this ID requirement have driven many locals to favor digital transactions, now a booming business.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Benin is the latest African nation taxing the internet
The new law has been denounced, with citizens and advocates using the hashtag #Taxepamesmo (“Don’t tax my megabytes”) to call on officials to cancel the levy. The increased fees will not only burden the poorest consumers and widen the digital divide, but they will also be “disastrous” for the nation’s nascent digital economy, says ISF’s executive director Julie Owono.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Facebook joins Uganda social media tax fray
The falling out over Uganda’s recently introduced social media tax could intensify after Facebook warned it will hold back infrastructure investments worth millions of dollars it was planning in the country.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Telecoms, Bank of Uganda want mobile money tax scrapped
Starting July 1, 2018 government introduced a 1% tax on all mobile money transactions and Shs 200/daily levy on social media usage. Following public outcry and pressure, government has since tabled an amendment bill, Excise Duty Amendment Bill No. 2, 2018 to have the mobile money tax reduced to 0.5% and only limited to withdrawals.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Uganda’s mobile money use drops by $182 million in two weeks
Mobile Money use fell by more than half a trillion Shillings following the introduction of tax on the transactions, Bank of Uganda (BoU) has said.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Judge suspends new taxes on mobile money, kerosene in Kenya
Justice Wilfrida Okwany issued the directive saying there would be no practical way of compensating Kenyan taxpayers who have already been affected by the implementation of the new taxes.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech, mobile money, public policy, taxes
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Uganda drops some mobile money taxes
Uganda's Cabinet, despite having been previously divided on the charges, on Monday agreed to remove some of the fees and revised the 1 per cent tax on withdrawals to 0.5 per cent.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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