Finance Minister Oyedele Confirms Nigeria Needs More Taxpayers, Not Higher Taxes

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, on Thursday said Nigeria’s revenue challenge lies in expanding the tax net rather than increasing tax rates, stressing that the country needs more taxpayers, not higher taxes.

Oyedele spoke in Abuja while receiving the leadership of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria during a courtesy visit to the Federal Ministry of Finance at the end of the institute’s maiden National Tax Awareness Day, which featured a road walk and taxpayer sensitization at Wuse Market as well as a visit to the headquarters of the Nigerian Revenue Service.

The awareness campaign coincided with one year since President Bola Tinubu signed Nigeria’s landmark Tax Reform Acts into law on June 26, 2024.

Commending the institute for supporting the Federal Government’s tax reform agenda, Oyedele said public misunderstanding of taxation remained one of the biggest obstacles to improving compliance. According to him, many Nigerians still believe that whenever the government talks about taxation, it is simply seeking to collect more money from citizens.

“We are still not getting enough revenue from taxes; it is not about increasing taxes but making sure that those who are supposed to pay taxes pay.

We want to promote fairness in tax administration,” he said.

The minister added that getting Nigeria’s tax system right would have a transformative impact on national development. He also urged the institute to establish annual awards to recognize the country’s most compliant taxpayers as a way of encouraging voluntary tax compliance.

Earlier, the tax awareness campaign commenced at Wuse Market, where the 17th President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Innocent Ohagwa, said the initiative was introduced to bridge the information gap surrounding the country’s tax reforms and improve voluntary compliance.

He explained that although the reforms had been in force for one year, many Nigerians were still uncertain about the changes and how they would affect businesses and individuals.

“The laws have been signed, implementation has begun, yet many taxpayers and stakeholders are still grappling with what has changed, what remains the same, and how these provisions affect their businesses and personal affairs,” he said.

According to Ohagwa, widespread misconceptions have continued to fuel anxiety, with some people believing the reforms introduced new taxes across all aspects of economic activity, while others assume they were designed solely to raise government revenue.

He, however, said the reforms contain significant relief and incentives for both individuals and businesses. Among the benefits, he said, individuals can now claim rent relief of up to 20 percent of annual rent paid, subject to a maximum of N500,000, while essential goods and services, including food, education, healthcare, electricity transmission, and non-oil exports, now enjoy zero-rated value-added tax treatment.

He added that compensation for loss of employment or personal injury now attracts higher tax exemption thresholds. For businesses, Ohagwa said companies with annual turnover not exceeding N100m and fixed assets of not more than N250m are exempt from companies’ income tax, capital gains tax, and the development levy.

“This means thousands of small businesses can now reinvest in growth, job creation, and innovation,” he said.