Tinubu’s Tax Shake-Up: SMEs Cheer, Big Firms Crunch the Numbers
The Big Picture: Nigeria just hit "publish" on a quartet of tax-reform laws set to reboot how Africa’s largest economy raises revenue, and who gets a break. The gazetted acts land six months before their January 1 effective date, giving businesses precious runway to recalibrate.
You can download the laws here - https://mytax.com.ng/tax-laws
The Details: President Bola Tinubu signed the Nigeria Tax Act, Tax Administration Act, Revenue Service Act, and Joint Revenue Board Act on June 26. The texts were officially released this week, and Chairman Taiwo Oyedele hailed the move as the legal backbone of a “long-awaited tax modernization agenda,” The Whistler reports. • Companies earning under ₦100 million in turnover and holding assets below ₦250 million are completely exempt from corporate income tax. • Larger businesses could see the headline rate slide from 30 % to 25 %, pending a presidential order. • A new “top-up” levy targets firms with local revenue above ₦50 billion and multinationals with global turnover topping €750 million.
Why It Matters: The reaction was swift: tax advisers say the high SME threshold “will ease the compliance burden on mom-and-pop shops,” while bigger players are calculating whether the potential 5-point rate cut outweighs the fresh top-up tax exposure. Internationally, the reforms aim to align Nigeria with OECD best practices and woo investment in non-oil sectors.
Around the Tax World
• OECD’s Plan B for Pillar Two. A draft “side-by-side” regime could let countries apply their own 15 % domestic minimum, preserving tax sovereignty, according to Bloomberg Tax.
• Africa’s APA moment. Nigeria’s January guidelines and South Africa’s new program promise transfer-pricing certainty for multinationals, but uptake remains thin so far (Bloomberg Law News).
• Portugal trims its blacklist. From January 1, 2026, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, and Uruguay escape Portugal’s punitive anti-haven rules,a shift tax pros called “long requested” in International Tax Review.
• Data deluge drives disputes. Automatic exchange regimes helped authorities uncover €135 billion since 2009, upping audit risk, Financier Worldwide notes.
By the Numbers
Tax Stat of the Day: 171 million, the number of financial accounts exchanged among 111 jurisdictions in 2024, turbo-charging cross-border audit firepower (Financier Worldwide).
Looking Ahead
All eyes are now on Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council: a presidential order on that 25 % corporate rate could drop as early as Q4. Meanwhile, the OECD is expected to unveil draft rules for its side-by-side minimum before the December Inclusive Framework meeting.