Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has revealed that more than 90 percent of Nigeria’s informal sector operators lack the financial capacity to pay taxes.

He made the disclosure on Friday during a roundtable with journalists, analysts, and social influencers on the newly enacted tax laws.

Oyedele dismissed the widespread belief that Nigeria’s revenue problem could be solved by targeting the informal sector.

“This is the reason why Nigeria has ended up introducing multiple taxes, because we are trying to chase people in the informal sector every now and then,” he explained.

“When in fact, more than 90 percent of operators in that sector are just there for survival. They are just trying to find how to put food on the table one day to another. They have no capacity to pay taxes.

“If somebody is roasting corn by the roadside, if they have customers from when they resume in the morning till they close at night, they are still a poor person. If somebody is a vulcaniser, and they have customers all around for the day, they are still poor.

“If somebody is pushing wheelbarrows to carry goods for people, and they have customers all the time around the day, they are still poor. They have no capacity to pay taxes and should not be taxed.”

He stressed that this was why President Bola Tinubu had insisted that poverty and capital must not be taxed. “We should not tax seeds but wait for the fruits,” he added.

On tax reforms, Oyedele highlighted that Nigeria’s new laws had strengthened accountability, increased transparency, and eliminated loopholes.

He noted that while the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) collected over N20 trillion in taxes last year and is on course to surpass that in 2025, the reforms have introduced stricter provisions to curb misconduct and ensure compliance.

“These new tax laws have put in place more structures, more provisions, and more requirements to hold them to account, to make sure that they do their work with responsibility, that they are more diligent,” he said.

“There are even instances in the new tax law where there are personal liabilities for an officer not doing what they are supposed to do. So we have strengthened the governance, also accountability, their report that they must present now, and make public, which they were not doing before.

“Whatever it is that the FRS is doing today, under the new tax law, it will be a better agency from all angles.”

Oyedele further disclosed that the reforms now ensure all tax revenues are paid directly into the federation account, shutting down previous channels of leakage.

On corruption, he said all stakeholders—taxpayers, officials, and consultants—had in the past contributed to malpractice, but the new laws had introduced safeguards.

“These new tax laws have now made provisions to address all the parties,” he explained.

“As a taxpayer, trying to evade your taxes now is more expensive under the new tax law. As a consultant, you are being monitored for what you do.

“In fact, there is a requirement for registration of a tax agent, and we monitor what they do on the system, and then for the tax officer, that is even the one who is more risky now. So overall, we think this is taking us in the right direction.” (Saturday Vanguard)