Yes — Nigeria's government has opened a formal, time-bound review of its 2025 tax reform laws. On 17 September 2026, Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele gave a new Technical Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms six weeks to fix implementation gaps in the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 and three related laws, acting on 134 stakeholder submissions, with recommendations expected to feed into the Finance Bill 2027.
What is Nigeria's tax law review 2026, and why now?
The Nigeria Tax Act 2025, Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2025 and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act 2025 all took effect on 1 January 2026, consolidating decades of scattered tax rules into a single framework and replacing the Federal Inland Revenue Service with the Nigeria Revenue Service. Eight and a half months in, Minister Oyedele, who also chairs the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, inaugurated a technical subcommittee in Abuja, co-chaired by Tax Advisory Committee chairman Albert Folorunsho, to work through the friction points businesses have flagged since the laws went live. As he put it while announcing the review: "The real test begins when the law meets the economy."
Which tax areas are under review?
The subcommittee's brief, built from the 134 submissions already received from businesses and professional bodies, spans:
- VAT threshold simplification. Feedback flagged unclear rules on which businesses fall inside the VAT net and at what turnover.
- Withholding tax clarity. The committee will also revisit the Deduction of Tax at Source Regulations 2024 and prepare revised withholding tax regulations, on top of the changes we covered in our piece on withholding tax and freight payments to foreign shipping lines.
- Capital gains tax treatment. Submissions raised how gains are calculated and taxed under the new framework.
- Multiple taxation and revenue authority coordination. A recurring complaint is federal, state and local authorities still issuing overlapping demands.
- Taxpayer rights, refund speed and compliance burden on small businesses. Slow VAT refunds and heavy paperwork featured prominently in the feedback.
- Sector competitiveness. Mining, renewable energy, healthcare and capital markets were named as areas where current rules may be undermining investment.
The committee will separately review the Companies Income Tax (Significant Economic Presence) Order 2020, which governs how foreign digital and remote businesses are taxed in Nigeria.
Why are businesses pushing for change?
The complaints didn't come from nowhere. The Central Bank of Nigeria's Business Expectations Survey found that 74.5% of businesses cited high or multiple taxes as a major operating constraint in April 2025, still elevated at 70.8% by November 2025. Dr. John Nwabueze, Chief Executive of the newly created Office of the Tax Ombud, has warned that "overlapping taxes, levies, fees and charges continue to raise costs and complexity for businesses," even though the 2025 reforms were meant to strip out more than 50 duplicate taxes. Manufacturers in particular report still facing a patchwork of state and local charges, among them environmental levies, sanitation and waste disposal fees, market and signage charges, loading permits and fire-service levies, most of which sit outside federal control and therefore outside this review's direct reach.
What happens next?
The subcommittee has six weeks from 17 September 2026 to report, putting its deadline around the last week of October 2026. Its recommendations, covering amendments to the four principal laws plus revised withholding tax and Significant Economic Presence regulations, are expected to feed into the Finance Bill 2027 rather than trigger an immediate legislative change. For businesses, that means the rules you are complying with today stay in force throughout this review; nothing changes automatically, and nothing should be assumed until a bill is actually passed.
What this means for your business
- Don't defer compliance while waiting for the outcome. VAT, withholding tax and capital gains obligations apply exactly as written today, as we detailed in our review of withholding tax on freight payments to foreign shipping lines.
- Document your own implementation pain points now. If your finance team has struggled with the tax harmonisation brought in by the four 2025 laws, a written record strengthens any submission your industry association makes, as we explained when Nigeria's new tax harmonisation law first took effect.
- Treat 2027 tax planning as provisional. Build your FY2027 budget on today's VAT, withholding tax and CIT rules, then flag which assumptions would need to change if the Finance Bill 2027 adjusts thresholds or rates.
- Separate federal reform from state and local levies. Most of the overlapping charges the Tax Ombud has flagged come from sub-national authorities that this review, and the coming Finance Bill, will not touch.
How should Nigerian businesses respond right now?
- Route unresolved compliance issues through your industry association, tax advisor or the Office of the Tax Ombud so they reach the right desk.
- Keep clean records of every VAT, withholding tax and capital gains position taken under the current rules, since these will matter whether or not the rules change.
- Build Finance Bill 2027 monitoring into your fourth-quarter 2026 planning calendar, rather than waiting for the bill to be tabled.
FAQ
When will Nigeria's tax law review be completed? The technical subcommittee has six weeks from its 17 September 2026 inauguration, putting its report due around late October 2026. Its recommendations are expected to shape the Finance Bill 2027 rather than produce an immediate rule change.
Will VAT rates or thresholds change because of this review? That is what is under discussion, not yet decided. The subcommittee is examining VAT threshold simplification among other issues, but any change would need to pass through the Finance Bill 2027 process, so the current VAT rules remain in force for now.
Can my business still submit feedback on the 2025 tax laws? The current round drew on 134 submissions already gathered from businesses and professional bodies. If you have unresolved issues, raise them with your industry association, the Office of the Tax Ombud, or your tax advisor so they can be included in future consultations.
Nigeria's tax rules are being reworked from the inside while businesses are still expected to comply with them exactly as written. VOG Global Consult tracks the Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee's work in real time and can help you separate what might change from what you must get right today, from VAT and withholding tax positions to Finance Bill 2027 readiness. To book a review, contact VOG Global at Suite 060 to 061, Orago Complex, Area 10, Garki, Abuja.