Remote Work, Meet the Taxman: Nigeria Plugs Into a 100-Nation Income Tracker
The Big Picture: Nigeria just super-charged its hunt for untaxed revenue. By signing onto the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) network with more than 100 countries, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) will soon get verified income data on residents who earn their paychecks from Zoom calls and GitHub commits abroad.
The Details:
⢠Taiwo Oyedele, chair of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee, said the pact will help âensure taxes are appropriately assessed and remitted.â
⢠The arrangement lets FIRS peek into foreign payrolls, freelance platforms, and dividend statements that involve Nigerian residents.
⢠Itâs part of a wider reform drive to modernize compliance systems and close revenue leaks in the digital economy.
Why It Matters: The reaction was swift: tax professionals warned clients that the era of "out-of-sight, out-of-tax" remote gigs is ending. For the Treasury, the move widens a tax net once riddled with VPN-sized holes; for freelancers, it means brushing up on residency rules and allowable deductions, fast.
Around the Tax World
⢠Manufacturers pop the champagne (carefully): New incentives under Januaryâs tax law could lift manufacturing output by 3.1 % in 2026, up from 1.6 % this year, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria told Punch.
⢠Press pass, tax pass? President Tinubu said he will examine editorsâ pleas for media-sector tax relief at the Nigerian Guild of Editors conference, according to TVC News.
⢠Airlines feel âtaxed to deathâ: United Nigeria Airlinesâ chair warned that overlapping levies are choking local carriers, telling The Guardian the charges breach international norms.
⢠Fuel duty U-turn: The government has paused a planned 15 % import duty on petrol and diesel to avoid fresh pump-price spikes, the Guardian reports.
By the Numbers
Prime Number: 3.1 %, the manufacturing growth MAN expects next year if the new tax incentives roll out smoothly (Punch).
Looking Ahead
FIRS will unveil the full text of the Tax Reform Acts and kick off stakeholder sessions later this month, ThisDay notes. All eyes are now on the implementation playbook.