The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has revealed that under Nigeria’s upcoming tax framework, individuals earning ₦250,000 or less per month will be exempted from paying personal income tax.
Oyedele made this known during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, June 26, shortly after President Bola Tinubu signed four new tax bills into law. The revised tax policies, expected to take effect in January 2026, aim to shift the nation’s tax landscape toward equity, efficiency, and economic stimulation.
“This tax law will not give you cash in your pocket, but at least it won’t take your cash away if you are poor,” Oyedele stated.
The fiscal reform leader, formerly a senior executive at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), clarified that the tax reforms are not intended to raise tax rates across the board, but to remove the burden from low-income earners, tighten the net on tax evaders, and support business growth.
He emphasized that Nigerian households earning less than ₦250,000 monthly classified as the working poor would be completely removed from the country’s tax net.
“We have eliminated the tax component for people at the bottom, we have reduced for people at the middle, and we have increased slightly for people at the top,” he said, noting that individuals earning between ₦1.8 million and ₦2 million monthly would see a reduction in their tax obligations.
According to Oyedele, the fiscal committee determined its threshold for poverty by going beyond conventional global indices like the World Bank’s $2.15 per day benchmark. “We had to consider local realities people who may not earn cash but grow their own food and don’t pay rent or transport,” he added, referencing his own upbringing in a rural community.
The reform plan has been widely described as “people-centric” and is projected to improve tax compliance, reduce tax inequality, and boost productivity without penalizing the poor.
The government says further details of the implementation will be released before the January 2026 start date, including exemptions, revised tax bands, and expected fiscal impact.
