‘Only 5% of bank customers have over N500k’ — NOA says FG won’t tax personal accounts

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) says the federal government will not deduct taxes automatically from Nigerians’ bank accounts when the new tax reform laws take effect from January 2026.

In its latest weekly publication, the agency said misconceptions and false claims about the Nigerian Tax Act, 2025 and the Nigerian Tax Administration Act are being spread “mainly by individuals and businesses which have been evading income taxes”.

“Insinuations of tax deductions from bank accounts are false. Taxes will not be automatically deducted from the bank accounts of Nigerians,” the NOA said.

The agency said the wrong interpretation of Section 29 of the Nigerian Tax Administration Act (NTAA) led to the misconceptions.

The section, according to the publication, only mandates banks and other financial institutions to furnish the tax authority with quarterly information on customers whose cumulative monthly transactions exceed N25 million for individuals or N100 million for corporate groups.

“Even though the information will help the tax authority to know eligible taxpayers evading taxes, the provision does not amount to automatic deduction of taxes from the accounts,” the agency added.

“Only about 5 percent of bank customers have more than half a million in their accounts. Hence, more than 90 percent of Nigerians, including the poor and vulnerable cannot be affected by this provision.”

‘TAX ACTS NOT AIMED AT RAISING REVENUE’

The NOA also said the new tax laws were designed to bring relief to low-income earners and small businesses, but not to overtax Nigerians.

The orientation agency said, under the new tax framework, individuals earning N800,000 and below annually will be exempted from paying personal income tax, while small businesses with annual turnover of N100 million or less will pay zero percent profit tax.

“The reforms to be spearheaded by the new tax Acts were not borne out of federal government’s desperation to raise more revenue by taxing Nigerians heavily,” the publication said.

“The tax Acts were rather conceived to relieve poor Nigerians of tax burdens.

“From the foregoing, experts agree that the income tax provisions in both the Nigeria Tax Act and the Nigeria Tax Administration Act are people-friendly, business-friendly, pro-poor and enacted to stimulate productivity by reducing the amount of money businesses pay as profit taxes or eliminating the profit tax entirely for small businesses.”

The agency added that the new laws are expected to enhance compliance among high-income earners, make it harder to evade taxes, and bring many non-compliant eligible taxpayers into the tax system.