The four tax reform bills submitted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in October 2024 are now ready for presidential assent, following the harmonisation of versions passed by both chambers of the National Assembly.
At plenary, the House of Representatives adopted the conference committee’s report, which resolved all discrepancies between the House and Senate versions of the bills.
Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke (APC, Lagos), who led the House delegation to the joint committee, presented the report.
Faleke revealed that the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill had 45 areas of difference, the Nigeria Revenue Service Bill had 12, the Joint Board Bill had 9, and the Nigeria Tax Bill had 46.
He confirmed that all differences were resolved through mutual agreement.
The committee retained some clauses from each chamber and made several amendments. Notably, they agreed on the introduction of a 4% development levy on the assessable profits of all taxable companies—excluding small and non-resident firms.
The levy will be collected by the Nigeria Revenue Service and paid into a designated special account.
The proposed distribution of the levy is as follows:
50% to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND)
15% to the Education Loan Fund (up from 3%)
8% to the Nigeria Information Technology Development Fund (NITDA)
8% to the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (down from 10%)
4% to the National Board for Technology Incubation
10% to defence and security infrastructure
5% to a cybersecurity fund
Notably, the Social Security Fund, Nigeria Police Trust Fund, and National Sports Development Fund were excluded from the final list of beneficiaries.
The committee also adopted a new Clause 158, introducing a 5% surcharge on chargeable fossil fuel products produced or supplied within Nigeria.
This will be collected at the point of transaction.
Importantly, the Value Added Tax (VAT) sharing formula did not feature among the contested areas.
Following the passage, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu commended the National Assembly for its commitment to national progress. “With this legislation, we have taken Nigeria from where it was to where it ought to be,” he said, while applauding citizens for their support throughout the process.
Hon. Ahmed Jaha (APC, Borno) issued a strong warning to those responsible for finalising the documents, urging them not to alter any content. “Where the ‘T’ is not crossed, don’t cross it; where the ‘I’ is not dotted, don’t do it,” he said. “We have the original copies of the bills as passed before and after harmonisation.”
