Photo Credit: The Punch
2025-12-28 09:00:00
Reporting by Punch indicates Nigeria’s new tax reform laws are still slated to take effect on January 1, 2026, despite widening pushback from some labour and SME stakeholders.
Industry groups say the package could simplify compliance and reduce distortions, while critics argue implementation timing and transparency concerns around the final gazetted text could trigger new disputes.
Government-linked reform advocates have framed the rollout as a shift toward fairness—targeting relief for most workers and smaller firms—while signalling willingness to fix drafting or referencing issues through the legislature without shifting the start date.
Channels Television quoted committee chairman Taiwo Oyedele saying, “The implication of not implementing the new tax laws by January 1, 2026, is that the bottom 98 per cent of workers remain overtaxed.” AIT Live also reported the government “has affirmed that there will be no reversal in the planned implementation… scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026.”
Echotitbits take: The political test is whether implementation becomes a trust-building exercise (clear gazette, plain-language guidance, phased enforcement) or another elite policy fight. Watch the National Assembly’s re‑gazetting process and how quickly tax authorities publish compliance guides for SMEs.
Source: The Punch — December 28, 2025 (https://punchng.com/four-days-to-tax-reform-manufacturers-excited-labour-smes-threaten-revolt/)
The Punch 2025-12-28
