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The Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms has assured that the new tax regime expected to kick off in January 2026 will end multiple taxation at the State and local government levels.
A member of the Committee and President, Capital Market Academics of Nigeria (CMAN), Prof. Uche Uwaleke, disclosed this while speaking with journalists at the opening of the 2025 Nigeria Local Government Development Summit in Abuja on Wednesday.
Uwaleke, who is the director of the Institute of Capital Market Studies at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, said the essence of the tax reforms is to streamline the country’s multiple taxes, particularly at the local government level.
He said, “What is being proposed, what will be implemented next year, will be a solution in which, at the local government level, at the state level, you’re not going to have more than nine taxes. All of them will be streamlined into nine taxes”.
He added, “So, the issue of tenement rates, ground rent, and land use charge will now all be streamlined as property tax.
“This will go a long way to improve business at the sub-national levels, and local governments and states in particular.”
According to him, there are up to 60 different types of taxes, officially and over 200 unofficial taxes currently.
“They have now been streamlined to nine. We have the income tax, we have a number of them now coming under income tax, a number of them coming under property tax, stamp duties, haulage fees, user charge fees, economic development fees,” he said.
He said the summit was organised for states and local governments to key in and possibly domesticate the law in their respective states, adding that, “We expect the state assemblies to also pass a law that will ensure that this harmonisation is done as quickly as possible”.
In his opening remark, Senator Godswil Akpabio, President of the Senate, said the Nigerian Tax Act, 2025, sought to reshape the fiscal foundation of the country.
Represented by Sen Binos Dauda Yeroe, the chairman of the Senate Committee on States and Local Government Administration, Akpabio said the summit was to confront essential questions. “How shall these reforms invigorate fiscal federalism? How shall they advance through autonomy for our local councils? How shall we generate without crushing the hopes already?
“There are questions upon which the priority and prosperity of millions depend.
“Local governments must become beacons of responsibility and innovation. The new tax law summons them to higher ground to adopt data-driven strategies, revive dormant revenue streams, and form the sacred trust of public financial stewardship,” he said.
