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The Council is urging the member states to take swift action through their respective revenue authorities to review existing DTS contracts with the intention of reducing the high stamp fees imposed on manufacturers.
The development comes after an analysis by EABC which indicates the cost of the stamp differs significantly in each country despite having one DTS solution provider.
The stamp is an additional fee to the excise duty tax payable under the countries' respective Excise Act. The EABC claims that such a structure is equivalent to double taxation of manufacturers.
The same analysis indicates that the cost of the excise stamps is poorly allocated for the different products without criteria or justification. Moreover, manufacturers pay fees to the DTS provider or supplier rather than government revenue authorities.
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The EABC executives say a reduction in the costs would pave the way for improved compliance among small-scale manufacturers with DTS regulations, improve sustainability and boost revenue collection.
“Wider public stakeholders’ engagement and inclusion of manufacturers’ input in the re-negotiation process of a better digital tax stamp system is important,” said John Bosco Kalisa, EABC CEO.