The chairman of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has said that the new tax reforms will not result in automatic debits from bank accounts.
Oyedele stated this on Channels Television’s end-of-year special on Tuesday, saying the tax authorities do not have the capacity to monitor every individual account, noting that enforcement is usually directed at high-income earners.
“Nobody will debit your account. Any amount of money you transfer, whether it is 1 billion, whether it is 1,000, it doesn’t matter how you describe it. Nobody will debit your bank account,” the chairman said.
He explained that the tax system will rely on self-declaration, with individuals stating their income at the end of the year and paying tax based on that declaration and said those exempted will only need to declare their status.
According to the chairman, individuals who are exempt from tax will only need to declare their status, stressing that the process is being simplified to encourage compliance.
He said public concerns were driven by misinformation, adding that many people reacting to the reforms are not within the income range the policy will focus on.
Oyedele added that some wealthy individuals and content creators are influencing public opinion to resist reforms that would require them to pay tax.
“The people who are fighting us the most are the people who don’t have 1 million in their bank account.
“You know that the NDIC said 98 per cent of bank holders in Nigeria can’t boast of 500k in their bank account. Those are the people fighting.
“I think something we underestimated in this reform. We said the current system is regressive, taxing the vulnerable more.
“Let us make it progressive. In fact, there was one of our meetings where we were saying it is going to be hard for these rich people to go out and be protesting because they don’t want people to know that they are rich.”
“We underestimated how these guys can manipulate the average person to fight the fights on their behalf. Even against their own interests, that was what played out, and it is totally unbelievable.
“There are content creators who admitted they make up to $10,000 a month. They don’t want to pay tax. You think they will go and create content that says they want to tax $10,000 a month? They say they are going to debit your bank account so you can help them fight the reform.”
His comments followed President Bola Tinubu’s confirmation that the implementation of the new tax laws will proceed as scheduled, despite calls for suspension.
Tinubu said the reforms are intended to reset and harmonise the fiscal system and are not aimed at raising taxes.
While acknowledging the public outcry over alleged changes in the tax laws approved by the national assembly, Tinubu said there is no substantial reason not to implement the reforms.
The president said the reforms are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a fair, competitive, and robust fiscal foundation, and they are not designed to raise taxes.
The new laws, signed in June 2025, will take effect fully from January 1, 2026.
They include personal income tax exemption for individuals earning N800,000 or less yearly, tax exemptions for small businesses with turnover below N100 million, a reduction of corporate tax for larger companies from 30 to 25 per cent, and retention of VAT at 7.5 per cent with exemptions for essential goods.
