The Executive Chairman of the , Dr Zacch Adedeji, has insisted that neither the old tax regime nor the new tax law gives any authority the power to tax money sitting in Nigerians’ bank accounts.
Adedeji made this clarification on Tuesday while speaking on Journalists’ Hangout, a programme aired on , amid rising public anxiety over recent tax reforms that took effect on January 1, 2026.
“Whether old tax law or new tax law has nothing to do with your personal bank account, whether you’re a company or you are an individual,” he said during the interview.
He explained that Nigeria’s tax system is based strictly on profits and returns, not on assets or cash balances held by individuals or businesses.
“Don’t forget that tax is a percentage of your profits. So if you have an asset, the asset is not to be taxed. We only tax the profits. We only tax the return,” Adedeji said.
His comments followed widespread rumours and concerns reported by Nigeria Startup News suggesting that the new tax framework could allow tax authorities to automatically deduct funds from bank accounts based on transfers, account narrations, or savings balances.
Adedeji dismissed those claims, describing them as the result of miscommunication and misunderstanding of the law.
“There is no law that allows anybody to go into your bank account and tax you because you transfer money or you keep money,” he said.
He further clarified that personal transfers, gifts, and movements of money between accounts do not automatically fall under the tax net.
“If you transfer money from your account to my brother, that is a personal transaction between both of you. It has nothing to do with tax authority, whether at the state level or at the federal level,” he said.
The revenue service boss also rejected suggestions that banks could be directed to debit customer accounts for tax purposes simply because funds exist in an account or because of the description attached to a transfer.
“There’s no such provision in any tax act. Whether you describe it or you don’t put any description, tax law, both the old law or even the new law that we have now has not given anybody any right to come into your personal account and tax you and instruct the bank to debit you,” he said.
Adedeji used the platform to explain that the transition from the Federal Inland Revenue Service to the Nigeria Revenue Service was more than a change in name, describing it as a full institutional overhaul.
According to him, the reform is aimed at simplifying tax compliance, modernising revenue collection, and improving efficiency across the system.
He said the transition provisions were clearly embedded in the law signed in June 2025, with implementation scheduled to begin on January 1, 2026.
He explained that the delayed commencement followed the national tax policy principle that major reforms should allow enough adjustment time for businesses, taxpayers, and administrators.
Adedeji said early market reactions showed that the direction of the reform was positive, although he did not provide specific figures.
He argued that beyond the circulating rumours, there were signs of improving sentiment reflected in market activity and general feedback from stakeholders.
He urged Nigerians to judge the new tax laws based on verified facts rather than speculation.
“You can see now that we are on the 13th of January, all those myths… You can see that those things were nowhere to be found,” he said.
Addressing one of the most debated elements of the reform, Adedeji clarified that the development levy introduced under the new law was not a new tax burden.
“Before now, we have what we call earmarked taxes. You have education tax, you have police trust fund… which makes it very difficult for businesses to plan,” he said.
He explained that the development levy is a consolidation of multiple earmarked taxes that already existed.
“But with this one item, which we call development tax, which is the summation of all these earmarked taxes… it is a consolidation of all the earmarked taxes that we are paying already today into one to simplify compliance,” he said.
According to him, the consolidation is designed to make tax planning easier for businesses while ensuring continued funding for key national priorities.
He added that proceeds from the levy would support education and other development needs, including security, which he described as new additions to the allocation structure.
Adedeji also maintained that the reform was structured to protect low-income Nigerians and reduce the tax burden on poorer households.
“If you look at the exemption list, 90 per cent of the disposable income of poor people is on food and transport,” he said.
He noted that the tax laws specifically exempt food and transportation from transactional taxes.
“If you look at the tax acts, all these are exempted from transactional taxes, food, and transportation,” he said.
He said workers on lower salary bands would notice reduced deductions under the new regime, with the impact expected to become visible in January salary payments.
“By the time the salary is being paid by this end of January, the salary earner in that lower cadre will confirm compared to what they’ve paid under the old law,” Adedeji said.
Responding to calls from some quarters to suspend the new tax laws, Adedeji rejected the idea, saying it had no place in a democratic system.
“The suspension of law has no place in a democratic setting. When law is passed, it becomes law,” he said.
He added that suspending the new framework would also create legal uncertainty, since the old tax laws had already been repealed.
On criticisms reportedly linked to , Adedeji said the government’s approach was based on engagement rather than confrontation.
He said he had met with the firm and acknowledged that misunderstandings were expected given the scale of the changes introduced.
“It is expected that people either don’t understand all, they don’t have the context, or they misinterpret what they read because it is new,” he said.
He added that the administration remained open to feedback that could help improve implementation.
Adedeji also addressed concerns surrounding tax clearance certificates during the transition period.
He said certificates already issued under the old regime remain valid and that taxpayers should not fear any disruption.
On withholding tax, he explained that it should not be seen as an additional burden but as a prepaid tax.
“When the tax is being withheld… it’s a prepaid tax of the taxpayer,” he said.
He explained that when taxpayers file correctly, withholding tax credits should reduce their final tax liabilities.
He warned businesses, service providers, and firms responsible for withholding obligations that non-compliance would attract strict consequences.
Adedeji also spoke briefly on the taxation of digital asset activities, stressing that the same principle applies.
“On losses, you don’t pay tax. Because tax is only on profits,” he said.
He added that the reforms removed minimum tax provisions that required businesses to pay tax even when they recorded losses.
According to him, those provisions effectively amounted to taxing capital rather than profit.
He said the broader goal of the reforms was to harmonise Nigeria’s tax rules, reduce manual processes, and rely more on technology and revenue intelligence to improve compliance and transparency.
