Chairman of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has clarified that only Nigerians earning N108,000 or less monthly (equivalent to N1.3 million annually) are exempted from paying income tax under the new tax reform bills signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
Mr Oyedele made the clarification after he was quoted on Channels Television’s Politics Today as saying that Nigerians earning N250,000 or less monthly are now classified as poor and would be exempted from paying tax.
He explained that the N250,000 threshold referred to households, not individuals.
“This is not an accurate account of what I said. For clarity, my reference to N250,000 was in the context of a household, not an individual,” Mr Oyedele wrote in a post on X on Saturday. “The monthly tax exemption threshold for an individual is N108,000 (N1.3 million annually). I hope this clears up any misunderstanding.”
The Bola Tinubu government had earlier assured that the new tax laws, which will take effect from January 2026, are targeted at protecting businesses, ensuring poverty is not taxed, providing relief to low-income earners, tracking tax evaders, and promoting economic growth.