Nigeria’s tax reforms will continue to evolve through the newly inaugurated Technical Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which will review how the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 and related laws are working in practice ahead of a planned Finance Bill in 2027.
Professor Taiwo Oyedele, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, inaugurated the subcommittee on Thursday in Abuja, describing it as the next phase of a reform process that began when President Bola Tinubu set up the main committee in July 2023.
Oyedele, who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, said the earlier effort had produced four laws now in force since January this year: the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act.
He called them the most far-reaching overhaul of the country’s tax system in decades but stressed that legislation alone does not settle a reform.
“Good reform is a process, not an event,” he told the gathering, adding that implementation would inevitably expose gaps needing clarification.
He described the coming Finance Bill 2027 not as a rewrite of the 2025 laws but as an opportunity to preserve their core principles while fixing ambiguities, easing compliance and adjusting to new economic conditions.
The subcommittee’s mandate, he said, extends beyond taxation to fiscal policy, public financial management, debt, transparency, capital markets and cross-border capital flows.
Oyedele noted that a public call for input had drawn submissions from businesses, investors, professional groups, civil society, academics and citizens, and he urged members to judge every proposal on evidence rather than on who submitted it.
He asked the subcommittee to weigh the costs, beneficiaries and possible unintended effects of any change under consideration, and to prioritise fairness, efficiency and competitiveness over popularity.
The subcommittee draws members from across government and the private sector, including the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Nigeria Revenue Service, the Nigeria Customs Service, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Debt Management Office, the Nigerian Bar Association, and professional bodies such as ICAN, CITN and ANAN.
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, SMEDAN, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and representatives of the Big Four accounting firms (Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC) are also represented, alongside additional specialists to be co-opted as needed.
