On May 31st, EBA participated at the meeting in the Economic Council to the Prime Minister focused on further measures initiated by the Government in relation to the so-called „luxury tax” of 2,5% paid by mobile operators and allocated to the Republican Fund for population support.
The meeting has been attended by representatives from the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications (MITC), Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour, mobile networks operators and business associations.
Key points of the discussion consisted in examination of a draft law developed by MITC proposing the reduction of the tax from 2,5% to 1,5% and its relocation to the organization and operation of the national service for emergency calls 112, including the application of the tax to other ICT operators, i.e. internet providers. Additionally, the Ministry of Labour introduced a draft law on abolishing the republican fund, therefore the support to vulnerable population will be covered by the local funds.
EBA emphasized its constant support for the elimination of the 2,5% tax which has been one of the main constraints to ICT sector development identified in the annually produced EBA Business issues briefs, which has been addressed by EBA through various national and international communication platforms, including with the European Commission and European Parliament.