The Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) has hailed president Tinubu for enacting to law, four landmark tax reform bills namely, the Nigeria Tax Bill (Ease of Doing Business), the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill. These reforms, passed after extensive stakeholder consultations, mark a significant milestone in Nigeria’s journey toward a more transparent, efficient, and growth-aligned fiscal framework it stated.In a statement LCCI Director General, Dr Chinyere Almona stated that from a macroeconomic perspective, the reforms are expected to impact four major areas: inflation, trade competitiveness, tax compliance, and investor confidence. According to her unifying Nigeria’s complex, fragmented tax laws, the digital and institutional upgrades in the bills give the private sector a better platform to grow and compete.She said : ‘The potential impact of inflation is twofold, in the short term, as businesses re-price, the broader tax net and initial compliance adjustments may trigger a slight increase in core inflation, estimated between 40–60 basis points. In the medium term, the reduction of tax inefficiencies and a shift from monetary financing to sustainable revenue should help ease price pressures’. Explaining further the LCCI boss noted that government’s fiscal projections anticipate headline inflation falling to 15 percent by end of 2026, compared to 27.6 percent in May 2025 with essential goods and services now exempt from VAT. She said the move is expected to ease the cost of living for millions of Nigerians.In addition the tax laws will also significantly improve Nigeria’s trade competitiveness as the introduction of a unified filing system and streamlining state and federal tax processes, businesses could see compliance time fall by up to 40 percent.The reforms will also effectively reduce transaction costs while supporting Nigeria’s export competitiveness under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).Furthermore, Almona stressed that tax compliance is an area where the reforms are poised to deliver tangible gains. According to her Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio, currently at 7.9 percent, is among the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, establishing a single taxpayer ID, risk-based audit protocols, time-bound refund mechanisms, and taxpayer protection instruments such as the Office of the Tax Ombudsman would broaden the tax base while reducing the informal sector’s dominance. She projected an increase in non-oil tax revenues by ₦3.2 trillion over the next two years, pushing the tax-to-GDP ratio towards 12 percent by 2027 with full implementation. These new laws, with their institutional safeguards and digital monitoring platforms, send a strong signal of fiscal discipline and reliability she stated. However, she maintained that the independence of the emerging Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS), supported by robust performance reporting, will further bolster credibility and reduce the risk premium attached to long-term investments.
