New Tax Laws: Oyedele clarifies ‘error’ controversy

The government has denied reports claiming that the Minister of State for Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, admitted there were mistakes in Nigeria’s new tax laws.

In a statement shared on Sunday, officials said the reports were misleading and did not reflect what the minister actually said.

According to the statement, some media outlets wrongly claimed that Oyedele said Nigerians should wait for the outcome of a legislative probe. The government clarified that this process had already been completed, and the approved tax laws have been officially published since January 2026.

The minister explained that the new tax laws are already showing positive results. For example, more informal businesses are now registering with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and the number of people registered for tax has increased from about 10 million to over 100 million.

The statement also highlighted key benefits of the new tax laws, including:

Small businesses are exempt from paying tax

Low-income earners have higher tax-free limits

Basic needs like food, education, healthcare, transport, and rent are not taxed

A Tax Ombud has been introduced to protect taxpayers

Oyedele said the new laws are better than the old ones but admitted that no law is perfect. He added that the government will continue to work with stakeholders to fix any issues through future updates.

The public was advised to ignore misleading reports and rely on official sources for accurate information about the tax reforms.