Lead Story
One Act, Two Texts,Businesses Caught Between Clashing Gazettes
The new Nigeria Tax Act, 2025 went live on 1 January. Within a week, tax managers found two official versions in circulation,each with different numbers, page ranges and, crucially, thresholds. A deep dive by BusinessDay revealed that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) copy pegs the “small-company” ceiling at ₦50 million, while the “Final Approved Copy” signed by the President raises it to ₦100 million. That split instantly changes who pays 0% Companies Income Tax and who doesn’t.
Opposition voice Funso Doherty piled on, writing an open letter to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) after downloading both texts from the agency’s own website and spotting “materially different provisions.” BusinessDay says the mismatch now sits on lawyers’ desks, and on every CFO’s risk register.
Why does it matter? Because one word in a gazette is the line between a 0 % and 25 % bill. As tax adviser Kenneth Eroje told Punch, “Compliance starts with certainty; right now, certainty is missing.”
For thousands of SMEs, the question is simple: Which copy should they trust before filing first-quarter returns? Until NRS issues a binding clarification, firms are hedging, booking for the tougher threshold and praying for the higher one.
Around the Tax World
• No, your balance won’t be taxed. The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria shot down rumours of a levy on savings, noting that only transfers above ₦10,000 attract the ₦50 stamp duty, BusinessPost reports. Link
• Phased roll-out plea. The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise wants “pragmatic, staged implementation” of the reforms to avoid a shock to informal operators, according to APA News.
• Remote workers on the radar. New rules confirm the 183-day residency test and lift the tax-free band to ₦800,000, putting Lagos café coders squarely inside the tax net, BellaNaija writes.
• E-invoicing heats up. The NRS and NITDA just accredited Pillarcraft Cloud Solutions as a System Integrator,one of a handful of firms allowed to plug corporate ERPs into the national platform, says AriseNews.
By the Numbers
Prime Number: 50,000,000. That is the naira gap between the two rival definitions of a “small company.” One clause, fifty million naira.
Looking Ahead
All eyes are on the NRS circular promised “within days.” All eyes are on the gazette that counts.