Adebiyi Adesuyi

 

A finance expert and Chief Executive Officer, Wealthgate Advisors, Mr. Adebiyi Adesuyi, has commended the federal government for signing into law the new Tax document, describing it as a game changer in the  history of the nation’s tax system.

 

 

Adesuyi, in  a chat with BrandsTrack, over the weekend,  however, expressed concerns that the introduction of the new tax regime, expected to commence on January 1, 2026, might further increase the taxes collected from Southerners, and their businesses, while the North continues to bring less to the ‘national table’.

 

 

The Wealthgate Advisors boss expressed the optimism that the implementation would go a long way in checking corruption and bring sanity to the nation’s tax system, since  the previous system allowed every agency of the federal government collect taxes and revenues on behalf of the government, spend a large percentage of such collections on salaries and irrelevant projects before remitting what the remnants to the government treasury.

 

 

“The new law has addressed this type of corruption and poor tax administration. The Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS), created by the Law, has now replaced FIRS (Federal Inland Revenue Service), and it will begin to collect tax and non-tax revenues on behalf of the  government. Henceforth, NRS will collect taxes that were previously paid to FIRS as well as revenues payable to the Customs, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency,” he stated.

 

 

The Finance and Public Affairs Analyst  also expressed the belief that the  new arrangement would give tax payers the benefits of unification of the tax system, instead of paying revenues to the government through different agencies.

 

 

“There will also be transparency in the system thereby ensuring that the Government gets what is actually collected on its behalf.  This new system is similar to Britain’s His Majesty Revenue and Custom. It will help the Government to be more effective in tax administration,” he stated.

 

 

Breaking down the contents, Adesuyi  described the exemption of  low-income earners and small businesses from taxes, as one of the highlights of the new tax law, a development he described as a good incentive for such category of business owners, and economic  relief for low-income citizens.

 

 

Describing the new tax law as an opportunity to improve the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria, Adesuyi, however argued that the new tax regime might make fiscal federalism difficult, since  it would  further increase taxes collected from Southerners and their businesses, as against what their counterparts would be paying.

 

 

“Hence, it will become increasingly difficult to restructure Nigeria and entrench fiscal federalism. It will be a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul,” he added.