Tax reforms to ease the burden on Nigerians, says FG

The Federal Government on Friday said the enacted tax reforms were done to ease the burden on Nigerians.

Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, said this when he paid a courtesy visit to the National Orientation Agency in Abuja.

Oyedele explained that the visit became necessary to seek NOA’s support in educating citizens about the new tax policies.

He said, “You can say subsidy removal came with some amount of pain and sacrifice. Naira floatation also means people have to pay more… But this tax reform is coming with benefits.

“Exemption for small businesses, exemption for workers, low-income earners, middle class; reduce their taxes, big companies reduce their taxes, harmonise taxes,” he said.

Recall that in October 24, President TInubu signed the tax reform laws, as a way of overhauling the complexity of the system.

With implementation set to begin on January 1, 2026, the reforms introduce exemptions for small businesses, reduced tax burdens for workers and the middle class, lower corporate taxes, and harmonisation of multiple taxes across federal, state and local governments.

They also streamline compliance procedures and eliminate nuisance taxes to boost investment.

Oyedele explained that the committee had compiled “50 tax exemptions and reliefs” that would benefit Nigerians but lamented that many citizens, misled by online falsehoods, believed the reforms would impose new burdens.

He called on Nigerians to guide against misinformation regarding the tax reforms, stressing the need for NOA’s involvement in communicating the reform’s benefits in local languages and through relatable characters.

The NOA Director-General Lanre Issa-Onilu described the reforms as “the first comprehensive, far-reaching response in the fiscal and tax space we have seen,” noting that the agency fully understood its responsibility.