The Minister of State for Finance, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has finally admitted that the new controversial tax laws have some errors, which he said the federal government was working to correct.
Before becoming a Minister a few weeks ago, Mr Oyedele headed the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee set up by President Bola Tinubu to formulate new tax laws for Nigeria.
In a post on X by the team on Friday, it was disclosed that the former employee of PwC noted that the discrepancies occurred due to manual processes and multiple stages of review, but steps were underway to correct identified issues through a proposed finance bill.
“What we need is a more transparent and reliable legislative process where every version of a law is publicly available,” he stated at the 2026 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Legal Practice.
At the event themed, From Policy to Practice: Making Sense of Nigeria’s New Tax Reforms, Mr Oyedele underscored the critical role of legal practitioners in shaping economic outcomes through tax advisory and compliance.
“The decisions lawyers help businesses make will determine investment, job creation, and revenue generation,” he said, calling for greater impact and efficiency, as Nigeria still lags behind countries like South Africa in tax collection.
“If we improve collection, we can significantly increase funding for infrastructure, education, and healthcare,” he added, urging lawyers to focus on effective implementation, stressing that the success of the reforms ultimately depends on how well they are applied in practice.
The Minister declared that enforcing Nigeria’s new tax laws would not be arbitrary, emphasising that reforms are rooted in clear policy intent, transparency, and fairness.
He stressed the importance of understanding the rationale behind tax laws rather than focusing solely on their provisions, pointing out that many professionals often overlook the underlying purpose of tax legislation, noting that policy intent should guide both interpretation and implementation.
According to him, the reform process prioritised creating incentives for businesses to formalise, while ensuring policy consistency and reducing discretion in tax administration.
On inclusivity, Mr Oyedele said the new tax framework deliberately protects low-income earners and small businesses.
He revealed that individuals earning around N1 million annually and a large portion of small businesses, estimated at 30 to 40 million, have limited capacity to pay taxes and are therefore shielded under the reforms.
“Nearly half of working Nigerians earn less than N70,000 monthly. Taxing them aggressively would be unjust,” he said, adding that the reforms also eliminate practices such as minimum tax payments on loss-making businesses, which he described as effectively taxing capital rather than profit.
The Minister noted that essential goods and services, including food, education, and healthcare, have been exempted from Value Added Tax (VAT), making the system more progressive.
He further explained that the reforms consolidated multiple tax laws into four major pieces of legislation, including the Nigeria Tax Act and the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, aimed at simplifying compliance and improving coordination among tax authorities.