Commercial banks will now be required to submit reports on bank accounts recording quarterly turnovers of N25 million and above to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other relevant agencies for tax oversight purposes.
This requirement forms part of the Federal Government’s new tax administration framework scheduled to take effect from January 1, 2026. The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this on Wednesday in Lagos.
Oyedele made the clarification during a media workshop on the newly consolidated tax laws. He explained that the reporting threshold had been increased from N10 million to N25 million per quarter, which translates to nearly N100 million annually before any reporting obligation is triggered.
Addressing public concerns, Oyedele clarified that banks will not be reporting all customer transactions. He noted that the requirement for business-related accounts to possess a Tax Identification Number has been in place since the 2020 Finance Act.
According to him, only accounts that meet the specified turnover threshold will be identified for monitoring to ensure proper tax compliance.
He further explained that banks are mandated to request a Tax Identification Number from all taxable individuals under the new tax regime. He cited Section 4 of the Nigerian Tax Administration Act, which makes possession of a tax ID compulsory for all taxable persons.
However, he stressed that students and dependants are exempt from this requirement and can continue to operate bank accounts without a tax ID.
Oyedele also dismissed fears that banks would begin deducting money directly from customers’ accounts for tax-related issues.
He stated clearly that banks have no authority to debit customer accounts over tax defaults, describing such claims as false and misleading.
He warned that misinformation suggesting direct deductions could create unnecessary panic and destabilise the economy.
According to him, neither the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Central Bank of Nigeria nor any government agency has the power to remove funds from individuals’ bank accounts without due legal process.
He explained that the only legal route for recovering unpaid taxes is through a court-ordered garnishee process, which involves assessments, notifications, opportunities for objections and judicial approval.
Oyedele added that in his decades of experience in tax administration, he had never encountered a situation where funds were removed from a bank account without a court order.
He recalled a past attempt to impose post-no-debit restrictions on suspected tax defaulters, which failed and recovered no revenue while causing public anxiety.
He cautioned that panic-driven withdrawals could severely harm the economy and urged the public to disregard false claims.
Oyedele maintained that the objective of the tax reforms is to simplify compliance, widen the tax base and ease the burden on households and small businesses.
The new tax laws were signed into law on June 26, 2025, by President Bola Tinubu. The legislation includes the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service Act and the Joint Revenue Board Act.
The laws introduce wide-ranging reforms, including tax exemptions for individuals earning N800,000 or less annually, higher tax rates for top earners, increased exemption limits for compensation due to job loss or injury, and the creation of a Tax Ombuds Office to resolve disputes between taxpayers and tax authorities.
