Warning over plan to tax offshore call centres

A US Senator’s plans to introduce a bill to tax offshore call centres in a protectionist bid to protect local jobs could spectacularly backfire if it becomes law, according to researcher Ovum.

The legislation put forward by Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York who is chairman of the Refugees and Border Security subcommittee, would impose a $0.25 excise tax on any customer service query that originated in the US, but was referred on to personnel working in a foreign location.

Companies would also need to inform customers about where the call was answered and where their personal information was being kept. They would likewise be required to publicly disclose how many customer calls they received and how many were sent overseas in their quarterly and annual reports as well as to certify that they were adhering to the new regulations or face penalties.

But Ian Jacobs, an analyst at Ovum, warned that the mechanisms required to police traffic to offshore contact centres could end up costing the government more than the excise tax it would generate.

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