Taiwo Oyedele, the minister of state for finance, has admitted to errors in Nigeria’s tax reform laws, assuring that measures are underway to correct the identified issues.
Oyedele was addressing concerns on the reported
discrepancies in the new laws during a fireside chat at the 2026 annual
conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) section on legal practice.
The event was themed ‘From Policy to Practice: Making Sense
of Nigeria’s New Tax Reforms’, according a statement from the fiscal reforms
committee.
On December 17, 2025, Abdussamad Dasuki, a member of the
house of representatives from Sokoto, claimed that the gazetted tax laws
available to Nigerians are different from the laws passed by the national
assembly.
In response, the house constituted a seven-member panel to
investigate the alleged discrepancies.
Oyedele had asked Nigerians to wait for the findings of
lawmakers regarding the matter.
In a social media post on Friday, the fiscal reforms
committee said the minister acknowledged “that errors occurred due to manual
processes and multiple stages of review” in the law-making process.
Oyedele said steps are already underway to correct the
identified issues through a proposed finance bill.
“What we need is a more transparent and reliable legislative
process where every version of a law is publicly available,” he said.
Oyedele assured that enforcement of the new tax laws would
not be arbitrary, noting that the reforms are anchored on clear policy intent,
transparency, and fairness.
He also stressed the importance of understanding the
rationale behind tax laws rather than focusing solely on their provisions,
adding that policy intent should guide both interpretation and implementation.
The minister highlighted inconsistencies in Nigeria’s
previous tax regime, particularly the disparity between personal and corporate
tax burdens, which he said discouraged business formalisation.
Oyedele said the reforms are designed to incentivise
business formalisation, ensure policy consistency, and reduce discretion in tax
administration.
Reflecting on past challenges, he said policy
inconsistencies, including abrupt proposals to increase taxes on gas companies,
had previously discouraged foreign investment.
“If policies can change overnight, it sends the wrong signal
to investors. Consistency is critical,” he said.
‘TAXING LOW EARNERS AGGRESSIVELY UNJUST’
On inclusivity, the policy expert said the new tax framework
protects low-income earners and small businesses, noting that individuals
earning about N1 million annually and millions of small businesses have limited
capacity to pay taxes.
“Nearly half of working Nigerians earn less than N70,000
monthly. Taxing them aggressively would be unjust,” Oyedele said.
He added that the reforms eliminate minimum tax on
loss-making businesses, describing the practice as a form of taxing capital
rather than profit.
While acknowledging improvements in public revenue
utilisation, Oyedele called for greater efficiency, noting that Nigeria still
trails countries like South Africa in tax collection.
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