CITN to Tax Dodgers: The Clock Is Ticking
The Big Picture: Nigeria’s tax makeover goes live on 1 January 2026, and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) wants everyone inside the net before the switch is flipped. At a pre-induction event in Lagos, CITN President Innocent Ohagwa warned that non-compliant individuals and companies “need to worry” once the new Tax Reform Acts are fully wired into government tech systems, The PUNCH reports.
The Details: President Bola Tinubu has already signed the reform bills, giving taxpayers a one-year grace period for “sensitisation and planning.” Ohagwa said the Acts are crafted to ease business yet will expose those who keep “burying” their income. He added a pep talk for the newest tax pros: “Your technical know-how is required… support the reforms in a holistic way so that everyone benefits.”
Why It Matters / What They’re Saying: The reaction was swift across the profession. Experts at a Lagos symposium urged fresh investment in human capacity so the sprawling reforms don’t outpace the people meant to run them. “Nearly 200 new terms have been introduced; people must read these laws,” Prof. Olateju Somorin told NAN News. In short: bright new system, same old compliance headache, unless taxpayers act now.
Around the Tax World
• CIT Revenue Rockets: Company income tax hit ₦4.76 trn in H1 2025, a 38 % jump driven almost entirely by domestic firms, according to fresh BusinessDay NBS data.
• Personal Tax Holiday for Most Workers: Come 2026, about 98 % of Nigerian employees will owe zero personal income tax, Chairman Taiwo Oyedele told a webinar hosted by First Bank (Guardian).
• FIRS Echoes the Relief: Only the “top 5 %” will shoulder new taxes, FIRS chief Zacch Adedeji said in Ilorin, calling the overhaul “the most business-friendly ever” (The Nation).
• OPS Pushes Back on Soda Excise Hike: Organised Private Sector groups told lawmakers a proposed beverage-tax increase would “fracture” an already tangled system (The PUNCH).
By the Numbers
Tax Stat of the Day: ₦4.76 trillion , the company income tax haul in the first half of 2025, up 38 % year-on-year (BusinessDay).
Looking Ahead
All eyes are on the National Single Window platform, which FIRS will demo for maritime players on 4 December. When the system goes live in 2026, expect tech-enabled data matching to make CITN’s warning feel very real.