Kenya to scrap tax on digital set-top boxes after EAC deal

Kenya has won approval from its East African Community (EAC) partners to remove taxes on set-top digital TV converter boxes, according to reports attributed to Business Daily. The tax exemption aims to make set-top boxes affordable and cuts the cost by 25%. They currently sell for between KES 3,000 (€25) and KES 10,000 (€83). The decision was reached by a committee of the regional ministers of transport, communication and meteorology in Arusha two weeks ago. The agreement paves the way for the region’s finance ministers to scrap the 25% common external tariff. Kenya has been lobbying to remove custom taxes on the equipment since late 2009 when President Kibaki directed the Treasury to make them affordable, but the region’s Custom Union Management Act required a consensus from all the five EAC states to do so. The deadline for the switchover to digital broadcasting in Kenya is in 2012.
Source: Telecompaper
Item added: 5th December 2011