Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has moved to calm rising public anxiety over the ongoing tax reforms, dismissing widespread claims that the Federal Government plans to deduct money directly from personal bank accounts.
Speaking yesterday at a media workshop on the new consolidated tax law, Oyedele described the reports circulating on social media as false, dangerous and capable of destabilising the economy if left unchecked.
He said no government agency has the power to remove money from any bank account without a court order, stressing that such authority does not exist under Nigerian law.
“Let me be clear. Nobody, not the Federal Inland Revenue Service, not the Central Bank of Nigeria, not any agency of government, can debit your bank account,” Oyedele said. “Whether you have ₦50,000 or ₦50 million, nobody is taking money from your account. That claim is simply not true.”
He explained that the misunderstanding arose from the recent consolidation of several tax laws into a single code, which some Nigerians wrongly interpreted as the introduction of new enforcement powers.
According to Oyedele, the only legal process for recovering unpaid taxes is through a court-ordered garnishee, a procedure he described as lengthy, rare and tightly regulated.
“Even where someone owes hundreds of millions in taxes and refuses to pay, the government cannot wake up one morning and take money from the person’s account,” he said. “There must be an assessment, proper notice, room for objection, a concluded process, and finally a judge’s order. Without that, no account can be touched.”
Drawing from nearly 30 years of experience in tax administration, Oyedele said he had never encountered a case where funds were removed from a bank account without full judicial approval.
He recalled a past attempt under a former FIRS leadership to place post no debit orders on accounts suspected of tax evasion, noting that the move failed and recovered no revenue.
“That episode created panic and achieved nothing,” he said. “Nobody is going back to that.”
Oyedele also addressed fears that banks would begin reporting all customer transactions to tax authorities. He clarified that the requirement for business accounts to have a Tax Identification Number was introduced under the 2020 Finance Act and is not new.
He added that the current reform actually raises the reporting threshold from ₦10 million to ₦25 million, which he said amounts to almost ₦100 million annually before any reporting obligation is triggered.
Data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, he said, shows that 98 percent of bank accounts in the country hold less than ₦500,000 and will never fall within the reporting range.
“This provision has existed for five years,” Oyedele said. “Most Nigerians are completely unaffected by it.”
He warned that the rumours surrounding the reforms could trigger unnecessary panic withdrawals, with serious consequences for the economy.
“One of the fastest ways to damage an economy is fear-driven cash withdrawals,” he said. “Nothing in this law authorises anyone to debit accounts. We must not create a crisis where none exists.”
Oyedele maintained that the objective of the tax reform is to simplify compliance, widen the tax base fairly and reduce the burden on households and small businesses.
“This reform is not designed to punish anyone,” he said. “It is about reducing multiple taxation, making compliance easier and supporting economic recovery.”
He disclosed that the committee is working with the National Orientation Agency to produce digital explainers and translations of the new law in major Nigerian languages to improve public understanding.
