Nigeria’s Tax Reset: Brace for the Bumps Ahead
The Big Picture
Nigeria’s largest tax makeover in decades officially kicks in on 1 January 2026, and the early reviews are…nervous. A new outlook from SBM Intelligence says street protests could flare once households feel the pinch of the four freshly minted tax Acts (BusinessDay).
The Details
Signed by President Bola Tinubu in June, the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025, Tax Administration Act, Revenue Service Act and Joint Revenue Board Act consolidate more than 60 separate taxes into a single playbook, roll out digital filing, and spare businesses earning under ₦50 million. Government bean-counters hope the cleaner system will boost non-oil revenue by roughly 30 percent.
Yet SBM cautions that “protests are expected to emerge as the new tax laws take effect, and their effects become clearer,” adding that enforcement headaches may linger through 2026 before public pushback fades. The think-tank expects Abuja to deploy “significant political will” to keep the programme on track.
Why It Matters / What They’re Saying
Tax professionals fear déjà vu: Nigeria’s 2023 fuel-subsidy removal sparked weeks of demonstrations. “The success of the laws depends largely on citizens’ understanding and trust,” FIDAC’s Executive Director Abdussalam Muhammad Kani told Nigeria Info, urging civil-society groups to translate legal jargon into street-level guidance. Without that buy-in, SBM’s turbulence forecast could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Around the Tax World
• CSOs on deck. FIDAC wants civil-society organisations to run grassroots campaigns explaining new perks like the ₦800,000 personal-income-tax exemption (Nigeria Info).
• Kogi goes first-mover. The state says it will domesticate the Nigeria Tax Act and start collecting under the new rules on 1 January 2026, giving local businesses just two weeks’ notice (ThisDay).
• Need a bank account? Need a TIN. From New Year’s Day, every customer must link a Taxpayer Identification Number to keep banking services humming, though FIRS insists no physical card is required (BBC News Pidgin).
• Version control drama. A lawmaker claims the gazetted Tax Administration Act secretly added arrest powers that Parliament never approved, sparking calls for a probe (Daily Trust).
Tax Stat of the Day
30 %, the Finance Ministry’s projected jump in non-oil revenue once the unified tax framework hits stride.
Looking Ahead
All eyes turn to 1 January 2026. Will the rollout be business as usual or protest central? Either way, the Federal Inland Revenue Service and state counterparts have just days to ensure taxpayers, and their bank accounts, are ready.