In a move aimed at cleaning up the country’s tax system, the federal government has officially prohibited the collection of taxes in cash and outlawed the use of roadblocks to enforce revenue.
The new measures are part of regulations to implement the country’s updated tax laws nationwide.
Executive Secretary of the Joint Revenue Board, Mr Olusegun Adesokan, made this known during the signing of the Presumptive Tax Regulations and Guidelines at the Federal Ministry of Finance on Tuesday.
According to Adesokan, the new rules are meant to put an end to informal, coercive and fragmented tax practices, particularly at the subnational level.
He added that the regulations are designed to bring transparency and fairness to tax administration, especially for businesses in the commerce and informal sector
The ES further said that the framework provides relief for nano and small businesses with annual turnover of N12 million or less, exempting them from the presumptive tax. Other informal businesses will now pay a one per cent tax on turnover, while also being encouraged to adopt technology-driven payment systems.
Adesokan explained that the guidelines also establish a uniform structure for states to tax the commerce sector and bring operators into the formal system using a tax identification platform.
“It bans all forms of cash collection by tax authorities. It also bans the mounting of roadblocks for the collection of taxes,” he declared.
Also speaking, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, said the signing marked a shift from legislative approval to practical enforcement.
Edun described the framework as simple, clear and fair, with a focus on economic inclusion. He noted that the reforms aim to protect small businesses, prevent arbitrary assessments and broaden the tax base without raising rates.
“With the signing of these regulations, we are transitioning from regulation to structured implementation of the tax reforms.
“Our aim is to ensure consistency, prevent arbitrary assessments… and to protect small businesses while ensuring the continuous growth of the Nigerian economy,” he said.
On his part, Chairman of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee, Mr Joseph Tegbe, described the signing as a decisive step from policy to practice. “With the signing of the presumptive tax guidelines, we have moved from legal provisions to operational reality,” he said, stressing that the reforms are about correcting distortions and replacing arbitrariness with transparency rather than imposing new burdens.
Tegbe highlighted the importance of the informal sector, which employs more than 80 per cent of Nigeria’s workforce but has historically contributed little to structured public revenue.
