Formalise Your Business Registration To Enjoy Tax Exemption, Other Benefits – Oyedele

The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has called on Nigerian entrepreneurs to formalise their businesses in order to benefit from the Federal Government’s new tax reforms, which exempt small enterprises and minimum-wage earners from taxation.

Oyedele made this appeal on Thursday during a panel session at the 24th Annual Conference of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), themed “The New Tax Law and You.”

He explained that the ongoing fiscal reforms, initiated under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, were designed to “reward compliance” and create a business environment that encourages growth before taxation.

“We began the reform by examining how people do business, how those businesses grow, and how they are financed,” Oyedele said.

“You can’t simply knock on the door and say, ‘Tax me.’ We first need to build businesses that can sustain corporate taxes. That’s why the reforms are people-centric.”

He revealed that under the new tax framework, companies with annual turnovers of ₦100 million or less will pay zero percent corporate tax, while the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) will register 250,000 small businesses free of charge to encourage formalisation.

The tax reform, he added, also seeks to ensure fairness in value-added tax (VAT) administration, with critical sectors such as food, education, health, and pharmaceuticals to be fully exempted from VAT starting January 1, 2026.

“From next year, this bottle of water will be zero-rated for VAT,” he explained. “The same will apply to food, education, and medical services, because these are essential to everyday living.”