Worried About the New Nigeria Tax Reforms? Official Explains Who Will Be Affected.
The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has provided more details on a planned tax intelligence system, explaining that it will use data from citizens’ financial activities to find those who are not paying their fair share of taxes.
Speaking in a recent podcast interview, Oyedele described a framework that pulls together information from different parts of a person’s life to get a full picture of their financial behavior.
“This is the whole point of the intelligence we are trying to put together,” he said. “What happens in your bank account, when you travel abroad, how you use your payment card, your electricity bills, your phone. All of that information.”
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He was quick to add that the government’s focus is not on low-income earners or small, everyday spending. The goal, he stated, is to find large-scale tax evasion.
“The government will not come after you if you earn 50,000 Naira and you spend 90,000. They are not looking for that kind of small money. It’s not worth the effort. So it’s usually those big numbers that draw attention,” Oyedele explained.
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The process, according to him, involves the system validating a person’s financial footprint. If it finds a major inconsistency—for example, a lifestyle that does not match declared income—and the individual cannot provide a proper explanation, the government will take action.
“By the time the system validates what you’re doing, we will be able to know if you have not paid tax,” he said. “If you cannot explain yourself, and your tax is one million Naira, under this new tax law from next year, if you have a bank account, we can debit your bank account.”
Oyedele concluded by framing the new approach as a more professional and less aggressive way of ensuring tax compliance. He described it as a move away from outdated methods, a clear shift from what he called “using hammers and nails to chase people for tax.”
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