President Bola Tinubu has assented to the four tax reform bills passed by both chambers of the National Assembly after several months of legislative work and consultations.
The four bills are the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, focusing on key areas of Nigeria’s fiscal and revenue framework.
Tinubu signed the bills at a brief ceremony held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, at about 3:20 pm on Thursday.
The presidential assent was witnessed by the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senate Majority Leader, House Majority Leader, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, and his House counterpart.
The Chairman of the Governors Forum, Mr. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State, the Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum, Mr. Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, the Minister of Finance and Coordination Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), were also at the ceremony.
One of the four bills is the Nigeria Tax Bill (Ease of Doing Business), which aims to consolidate Nigeria’s fragmented tax laws into a harmonised statute.
“By reducing the multiplicity of taxes and eliminating duplication, the bill will enhance the ease of doing business, reduce taxpayer compliance burdens, and create a more predictable fiscal environment,” said the Presidency in a statement on Wednesday night.
The second bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, will establish a uniform legal and operational framework for tax administration across federal, state, and local governments.
The Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, the third bill, repeals the current Federal Inland Revenue Service Act and creates a more autonomous and performance-driven national revenue agency— the Nigeria Revenue Service.
It defines the NRS’s expanded mandate, including non-tax revenue collection, and lays out transparency, accountability, and efficiency mechanisms.
The fourth bill is the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill.
It provides for a formal governance structure to facilitate cooperation between revenue authorities at all levels of government. It introduces essential oversight mechanisms, including establishing a Tax Appeal Tribunal and an Office of the Tax Ombudsman.
Persecondnews recalls that President Bola Tinubu had in October 2024 transmitted the four tax reform bills to the National Assembly for consideration and passage.
The bills, drafted by the Presidential Committee on Tax Reforms and Fiscal Policy, aim to revolutionize Nigeria’s tax landscape by overhauling the existing tax laws, promoting exports, and streamlining tax administration.
However, the bills faced stiff opposition, mainly from the Northern parts of the country, particularly from Northern governors who had described the bills as “anti-North.”
The debates of the bills took a divisive turn, pitting the North against the South, with the contentious issue of VAT sharing formula at the forefront of the controversy.
The National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by Vice-President Kashim Shettima had urged President Tinubu to withdraw the contentious bills for further consultations across the country.
Tinubu, however, stood his grounds, asserting that all concerns regarding the bills should be addressed during deliberation in the National Assembly, instead of withdrawing the bills.
Leave a comment