Independence: Tax Policy Not To Punish Nigerians, Tinubu Declares

As Nigerians prepare for a new tax regime next year, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has promised that the intention is not to punish Nigerians.

The president made the admonition in his national broadcast to Nigerians on Wednesday in commemoration of Nigeria’s 65^th Independence Anniversary.

On this day in 1960, Nigeria secured independence from the United Kingdom, marking the beginning of a statehood after many years of colonial rule.

According to President Tinubu, the country has achieved huge milestones, notwithstanding some setbacks, saying the reforms introduced by his administration, including the tax reforms are to ensure a better future for the country, saying the intention is not to punish but to bring more people into the tax net, to raise revenue for the development of the country.

He stressed that by ensuring that more Nigerians pay tax, there will be more resources freed up for the government to provide critical infrastructure, aside from ensuring that low income earners in the country enjoy tax relief.

“Our tax-to-GDP ratio has risen to 13.5 per cent from less than 10 per cent. The ratio is expected to increase further when the new tax law takes effect in January. The tax law is not about increasing the burden on existing taxpayers but about expanding the base to build the Nigeria we deserve and providing tax relief to low-income earners.”

The magazine reports that Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee recently disclosed that the tax net will be expanded to ensure that sex workers also pay tax, beginning from next year.

Oyedele had earlier stared that the federal government will determine whether the new tax regime will take off from January 2026.