Positive Tax Reforms aim to ease burdens with exemptions and clarity while government counters misinformation nationwide

According to senior officials on Friday, the Positive Tax Reforms recently signed into law were designed to ease financial pressure on Nigerians rather than deepen hardship, countering what authorities describe as a surge of harmful misinformation.

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During a courtesy visit to the National Orientation Agency in Abuja, Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, said many citizens had been misled into believing the reforms would impose fresh burdens.

He insisted the package was in fact crafted to deliver what he called one of the most consequential and beneficial outcomes of his career.

Oyedele explained that the reforms, signed by President Bola Tinubu in October 2024 and set for implementation from 1 January 2026, introduce exemptions for small businesses, lower taxes for workers and the middle class, reduced corporate levies and streamlined procedures that remove nuisance taxes.

He described the measures as a powerful step toward simplifying Nigeria’s complicated tax landscape.

He revealed that the committee had compiled around fifty exemptions and reliefs that would benefit ordinary Nigerians. However, he lamented that inaccurate claims spreading online had created needless fear.

Some citizens, he said, were already preparing to protest despite not understanding the content of the reforms.

Oyedele pointed to a spurious rumour circulating among northern farmers alleging that the government planned to seize a quarter of all produce.

He described such distortions as dangerous and warned that misinformation had begun to take ethnic and religious dimensions.

He emphasised that the support of the National Orientation Agency was critical in communicating the reforms in local languages through relatable characters such as farmers, students and CEOs to prevent misunderstandings from escalating.

Responding, NOA Director General Lanre Issa Onilu described the reforms as the most far reaching intervention in fiscal policy seen in years. He said the agency recognised its responsibility to help citizens understand the changes clearly.

He noted that NOA’s extensive media network, including nearly two hundred radio stations across seventy two local languages and thirty six television channels, would be mobilised to provide accurate and timely information.

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Issa Onilu added that existing partnerships with national broadcasters would be leveraged to ensure the Positive Tax Reforms are communicated in a truthful and accessible manner so that Nigerians can appreciate the intended benefits.