The government is planning to slap a 10% tax on all telephone bills as part of the attempt to raise up to CYP 18 mln to cover the budget hole, which in the process will more than offset the planned rate reductions by CyTA.
According to Politis, the government is proposing the introduction of a flat 10% tax on all telephone bills, which if approved by the House, will mean some CYP 18 mln annually ending up in state coffers.
Half of the funds are expected to be raised from mobile telephony while the remaining CYP 9 mln will be raised from the fixed telephony. A previous suggestion to slap a CYP 1-2 per bill tax was scrapped.
The suggested tax hike, if passed, will more than offset the planned rate reductions by CyTA, which as of February 1 introduced rate reductions of up to 77% on international call rates.
Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides however said the phone tax will be the last measure that the government will take to raise funds, adding that while the measure was included in the Convergence Plan submitted to Brussels, yet in view of the fact that state finances are improving rapidly, he said there was no need to impose such a tax.
THREE OPTIONS
CyTA also introduced three new discount schemes with regards to fixed telephony. With the “Monthly Amount-based Discount” scheme, customers benefit from reductions of up to 15% on calls from fixed telephone to numbers abroad. There is no need to make an application as the discounts are worked out automatically by CyTA.
The “Friends and Family” scheme enables customers to choose 1-3 telephone numbers abroad which they call frequently and to benefit from a 7% monthly discount on charges for calls to these numbers. Customers need to register to the free service.
The “Annual Year-End Discount” scheme enables customers to benefit from a 4% discount in the form of credit if their annual bill for international calls exceeds CYP 600 (before any discounts) from a fixed telephone.
Customers participate automatically in the scheme, which requires no application for membership.
Calls via the 1018 service and Direct International Vo?? are not included.
