✈️📊 The Lead Story
Nigeria’s Big Tax Reboot: Goodbye FIRS, Hello NRS
The Big Picture: Nigeria just pressed the reset button on its entire tax playbook. The brand-new Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 (NTAA) consolidates decades of scattered laws, births the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), and sprinkles in fresh rates, levies, and tech-powered compliance tools, TVC News reports.
The Details:
* Small businesses win big, companies pulling in ₦100 m or less and holding fixed assets below ₦250 m now pay zero corporate income tax, capital-gains tax, or the new Development Levy.
* A 4 % Development Levy lands on the profits of larger firms, replacing a jumble of sector-specific charges.
* Personal income gets a facelift: earn ₦800 k or less a year and you’re off the tax hook; top earners face a new 25 % marginal rate.
* Capital gains tax for companies rockets from 10 % to 30 %, and yes, crypto, indirect share transfers, and other intangibles are firmly in the net.
* The law bakes in a 15 % minimum effective tax rate for giants booking at least ₦50 bn in turnover.
Why It Matters: Reformers say the overhaul tackles Nigeria’s chronic 10,11 % tax-to-GDP ratio. “We have opened the doors to a new economy,” President Tinubu told TechCabal. But tax pros note the clock is ticking, most provisions kick in 1 January 2026, leaving a tight runway for businesses (and the NRS) to gear up.
Around the Tax World
- Aviation Braces for Impact: VAT on air tickets and customs duties on aircraft roar back next year, a move that could “cripple airline operations within 48 hours,” warned Air Peace CEO Allen Onyema to Punch.
- Tech to the Rescue: Abuja is chasing ₦17.85 trn in 2026 revenues and says platforms like TaxPro Max will be the engine, according to the TechCabal deep dive.
- Fuel Surcharge Reloaded: A dormant 5 % fuel levy on petrol and diesel gains fresh life under the NTAA, but only after a formal order from the finance minister, notes BusinessDay NG.
- Tax ID Panic, Debunked: Obtaining a Tax ID is not a condition to keep your bank account, the Joint Tax Board assured via OsunDefender. Earlier, committee chair Taiwo Oyedele told TVC News the requirement targets only taxable persons.
Tax Stat of the Day
Prime Number: ₦17.85 trillion, the government’s 2026 tax-and-customs revenue goal, nearly double the 2024 take (TechCabal).
Looking Ahead
All eyes are on the NRS rulebook and the finance ministry’s next gazette. With the start date set for 1 January 2026, expect a flurry of guidance, and maybe a few court challenges before the ball drops.