The Korean manufacturer decided to try reclassifying the Galaxy S7 in South Africa as a device that looks more like a laptop than a smartphone.
This was done in order to get a tax refund and lower customs duties, and this is due to the fact that South Africa classifies smartphones as luxury goods, but the company had to get approval from the South African tax office.
How did Samsung try to convince officials to make such a change? The company said that voice calling is not the Galaxy S7’s most important feature, but just an add-on. The most important for users are apps, music, internet and social media.
Unfortunately, the Korean manufacturer was not convinced to reclassify – South Africa’s Revenue Service said the Galaxy S7 is the size of a phone, has a speaker and microphones placed just like a phone, and has a SIM card slot so you can just make calls.
โThe claim that the product is not a cellular phone, but a device that looks like a laptop or desktop computer is not true because the party admitted that its product has telephony capabilities. The fact that the product has functions inherent in laptops and desktops does not detract from its main function – a mobile phone, โcommented Judge Mngkibisa-Susi.
