New Tax Reform: Nobody Will Debit Your Account — Taiwo Oyedele Assures Nigerians
Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, has assured Nigerians that the new tax reforms will not result in automatic debits from bank accounts, regardless of transaction amounts or descriptions.
Speaking on Channels Television’s end-of-year special on Tuesday, Oyedele said no tax authority has the capacity to monitor every individual, explaining that enforcement is usually targeted at high-income earners, not regular bank users.
“Nobody will debit your account. Any amount of money you transfer, whether it is 1 billion, whether it is 1,000, it doesn’t matter how you describe it. Nobody will debit your bank account,” he said.
Citing Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation data, he added, “You know that the NDIC said 98 percent of bank holders in Nigeria can’t boast of 500k in their bank account. Those are the people fighting.”
Oyedele said misinformation had driven opposition to the reforms, noting that the team underestimated how public sentiment could be manipulated.
“I think something we underestimated in this reform. We said the current system is regressive, taxing the vulnerable more.
Let us make it progressive. We underestimated how these guys can manipulate the average person to fight the fights on their behalf. Even against their own interests, that was what played out and it is totally unbelievable.”
He accused some high-earning content creators of spreading false narratives. “There are content creators who admitted they make up to $10,000 a month. They don’t want to pay tax. They say they are going to debit your bank account so you can help them fight the reform.”
Oyedele explained that the reformed tax system is based on self-declaration, with taxpayers declaring income annually, while exempt individuals only need to declare their status.
He spoke as President Bola Tinubu confirmed that implementation of the new tax laws will proceed as scheduled, stressing that the reforms are not designed to increase taxes.