Uganda: social media taxed from July

Uganda will apply from 1 July 2018, a mandatory tax on all courier services, social networks and services of “mobile money”, according to the provisions of a law approved Wednesday, May 30 in Parliament.
Indeed, the text notes that any use of a platform like WhatsApp, Facebook, Viber, Skype and the same type exposes its beneficiary to a compulsory tax of 200 shillings (a little more than 0.05 dollars) per day and 1% the sum subject of the transaction via mobile money.
According to the Ugandan government, revenue from these taxes will be reallocated to areas such as access to electricity, improved connectivity to the Internet, free education and care, and construction. public infrastructure.
Some parliamentarians believe that telecom providers already apply a levy on packages for the use of platforms like WhatsApp and the tax on mobile financial transactions would impact the income of vulnerable people, especially those living in rural areas.
According to government estimates, the new taxes are expected to generate 16.2 billion shillings a year, or 4.5 million dollars.