The President/CEO of MFP Global Services, Former Council Member/Zonal Chairman of ICAN and a Board Member of Oyo State Anti-Corruption Agency, Dr Prince Oyebade Oyedepo has advised members of the Professional Event Planners and Vendors Association of Nigeria (PEPVAN) to obtain tax identification number, keep records and render returns to the tax office of resident to avoid sanctions and imposition of presumptive tax by the tax authority provided for in the new tax laws effective from 1st January, 2026
The advice was given by Dr Oyebade last Sunday during the Congress of the Association held in Ibadan at Abimbola Event Centre, Olodo, Ibadan where he featured as the Special Guest of Honour as well as the Guest Speaker.
The finance expert mentioned some of the reasons behind the introduction of the new tax laws. According to him, some of the reasons behind it include the following amongst others; to reduce too many tax laws, to eliminate ambiguities in the existing tax laws paving way for multiple taxation, to make our tax laws competitive and in conformity with international standards, to make our tax laws progressive, to take advantage of opportunities created by globalization and technology and to strengthen the tax administration and increase the revenue of the government.
According to him, it is also to block the loopholes making it easy for individuals and corporate organizations to evade taxes.
He listed the new tax laws and implementation dates as; Nigeria Tax Act, 2025 (NTA) with January 1, 2026 as effective date, Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025 (NTAA) effective date is January 1, 2026, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025 effective from June 26, 2025 & Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, 2025 effective from June 26, 2025.
The Anti-Corruption Czar highlighted the key changes in the new tax laws to include; Compulsory payment of taxes by anyone above 18 years earning income in Nigeria, Compulsory registration for tax ID, keeping of records and rendering of returns, resident individuals will pay taxes on worldwide income, non-resident individuals will pay taxes on income earned in Nigeria, anyone earning below N800,000 will be exempted from payment of taxes, tax officials now have power to assess people in the informal sector with no reliable income records to presumptive taxation, small businesses with turnover of less than N100 million are exempted from payment of income tax, VAT and development levy, creating the office of tax ombudsman to resolve tax issues, launch of Joint Revenue Board (JRB) and upgrading of tax appeal tribunal (TAT).
The policy analyst counselled the participants on how the laws apply to them as individuals and owners of small businesses. In his words, “people who are self employed without any formal business registration and owners of business ventures, enterprises, firms and partnerships fall within the ambit of individuals assessable to tax by the State Internal Revenue Service where they are resident”. Those within this category were advised to register with Oyo State Internal Revenue Service since they are resident in Ibadan for tax purpose on or before 1st of January, 2026 to comply with the provisions of the new tax laws.
The MFP top brass stressed the importance of records keeping as this is the only way to explain their financial transactions to tax officials. He advised them to segregate loans from real earnings and also separate transfer of money from one account to the other by the same person from their earnings to prevent tax officials from assuming it to be real earnings to aggravate the tax payable.
According to him, they should not wait for the tax officials to be after them to compel them to pay before rendering returns to the State Internal Revenue Service where they are resident. In his words, they should make returns of their earnings and other details to the tax office on or before 31st March of any year. He encouraged them to retain their records for six years before disposing it as contained in the tax laws.
The MFP boss mentioned that payment for tenement rate is not the same thing as payment for taxes due on earnings. Tenement rate is payable to Local Government while taxes payable on earnings are collectible by the State Government represented by the State Internal Revenue Service.
He enjoined them to process their tax clearance certificate after successfully paying the tax liability. In his words, the tax clearance certificate last for one year up to 31st December of any year. It is also useful for additional three months of the following year pending the time another returns will be made by the tax payer.
The importance of tax clearance certificate is immense and cannot be overemphasized. It is useful for traveling purposes and prospect for business opportunities amongst others uses.
Similarly he advised owners of small businesses (owners of limited liability companies) to also ensure they register with the Nigeria Revenue Service and be rendering nil returns since they are exempted from payment of taxes.
According to him, registering with the tax office will enable them have tax ID number and be able to process tax clearance certificate needed to transact business seamlessly.
He advised them to register their staff and directors for payment of taxes with the State Internal Revenue Service for deductions and remittances of PAYE on Staff Salaries and Withholding taxes on Directors fees.
The fact that small businesses are exempted from taxes does not mean their staff and directors earning above N800,000 will not pay taxes to the State Government.
Dr Oyebade advised participants not to see taxes as burden but rather as obligation. He reminded them that taxes have been there from time immemorial. It is when people pay their taxes that they can demand good governance from those in government.
He advised them to be good citizens by paying their taxes as quickly as possible to make the Country grow as we have it in the advanced Countries.
PEPVAN is an association made up of decorators, event planners, Caterers, bakers, Masters of Ceremony, Alaga Ijoko/Iduro, live band, small chops people and few hall owners etc.
