By Ayomide Otitoju
The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has reaffirmed that the January 1, 2026, commencement date for the Nigerian Tax Act and the Nigerian Tax Administration Act remains sacrosanct.
Oyedele made the assertion on Friday in Lagos while briefing journalists after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu. The meeting was also attended by the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacchaeus Adedeji, and the Chairman of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee, Joseph Tegbe.
According to Oyedele, the reforms will proceed as scheduled, noting that they are designed to ease the tax burden on Nigerians and stimulate economic growth.
“The plan to commence the new laws on January 1, 2026, will go ahead as planned because these reforms are intended to provide relief to the Nigerian people,” he said.
He explained that under the new framework, about 98 per cent of workers would either pay no Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax or pay significantly less, while 97 per cent of small businesses would be exempt from Corporate Income Tax, Value Added Tax (VAT), and Withholding Tax. Large businesses, he added, would also benefit from reduced tax obligations.
“The whole idea is to promote economic growth, inclusivity and shared prosperity for our people,” Oyedele said.
Oyedele also welcomed the position of the National Assembly amid allegations of alterations to the tax laws, stressing that the Federal Government is ready to engage lawmakers to address concerns raised by Nigerians, including opposition figures.
The controversy followed claims by a member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, who alleged discrepancies between the tax bills passed by the National Assembly and the versions later gazetted and released to the public. Dasuki argued that the content of the gazetted laws did not reflect what lawmakers debated and approved, describing the situation as a breach of legislative procedure.
He noted that the officially harmonised bills certified by the Clerk of the National Assembly were not publicly available for comparison, adding that only lawmakers could authoritatively confirm what was transmitted to the President for assent.
President Tinubu recently signed four tax reform bills into law, a move the Federal Government has described as the most significant overhaul of Nigeria’s tax system in decades.
The new laws, which faced strong opposition from some federal lawmakers, particularly from the northern part of the country, are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026. They include the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, all to operate under a unified authority known as the Nigeria Revenue Service.
