The Federal Government of Nigeria has prohibited the cash collection of taxes and banned the mounting of roadblocks for revenue enforcement, as part of fresh regulations to implement Nigeria’s new tax laws nationwide.
The Executive Secretary of the Joint Revenue Board, Olusegun Adesokan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during the signing of the Presumptive Tax Regulations and Guidelines on the Implementation of the Tax Laws.
Adesokan said the new framework was designed to end informal, coercive and fragmented tax practices, particularly at the subnational level. He explained that the regulations expressly prohibit all forms of cash tax collection by authorities and the use of roadblocks for tax enforcement.
According to him, the regulations are aimed at entrenching transparency, fairness and equity in tax administration, especially within the commerce and informal sectors. He added that nano and small businesses with an annual turnover of ₦12 million and below are exempted from tax under the presumptive tax regime.
“Our nano and small businesses with an annual turnover of ₦12 million and below are exempted from tax,” Adesokan said, noting that a one per cent tax on turnover would apply to other categories of informal businesses, alongside the adoption of technology-driven payment systems.
He further stated that the guidelines provide a uniform structure for states and other subnational governments in taxing the commerce sector, while integrating operators into the formal system through a Tax Identification platform.
Also speaking, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the signing marked the transition from legislative approval to operational enforcement of tax reforms enacted in 2025 and early 2026.
Edun described the regulations as a simple and transparent framework anchored on fairness, clarity, equity and economic inclusion. He stressed that the reforms were not intended to raise tax rates but to broaden the tax base in a structured manner to protect small businesses and support economic growth.
He added that the reforms were developed in collaboration with the Joint Revenue Board to ensure coordination across federal, state and local governments, noting that implementation would be closely monitored, with an ombudsman mechanism introduced to safeguard fairness.
The Chairman of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee, Joseph Tegbe, said the signing represented a decisive shift from policy intent to practical execution. He noted that the reforms were aimed at correcting systemic distortions, restoring order and replacing arbitrariness with transparency.
Tegbe observed that although the informal sector employs over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s workforce, its contribution to structured public revenue had remained low due to weak and complex frameworks. He said the committee would work with tax authorities to ensure a disciplined, transparent and sustainable rollout of the new tax framework nationwide.
