Commercial banks will now be required to submit quarterly reports on bank accounts with turnovers of N25 million and above to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other relevant agencies as part of efforts to strengthen tax monitoring. The requirement forms part of the federal government’s new tax administration framework scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026.
The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this in Lagos while speaking at a media workshop on the newly consolidated tax law. He explained that the reporting threshold has been increased from N10 million to N25 million per quarter, which he said effectively means “almost N100 million a year before any report is triggered.”
Oyedele clarified that the policy does not mean banks will begin reporting all customer transactions. He noted that under the 2020 Finance Act, accounts used for business purposes are already required to have a Tax Identification Number (TIN), stressing that only accounts that meet the turnover threshold will be flagged for monitoring to ensure proper tax compliance.
He added that banks are now mandated to request TINs from all taxable Nigerians in line with the new tax regime. According to him, Section 4 of the Nigerian Tax Administration Act makes possession of a tax ID compulsory for all taxable individuals, although students and dependents are exempt and will not be required to present a TIN to operate bank accounts.
Addressing widespread concerns, Oyedele dismissed fears that banks would begin debiting customers’ accounts directly for tax defaults. “Nobody will debit your bank accounts in banks. Banks will not debit customers’ accounts for tax default,” he said. He described claims circulating on social media about direct deductions as “false, dangerous and capable of destabilising the economy.”
He further stated, “Let me say this clearly: nobody — not FIRS, not Central Bank of Nigeria, not any government agency — has the power to debit your bank account. Whether you have N50,000 or N50 million, nobody is taking any money from your account. It is simply not true.”
Oyedele explained that the confusion stemmed from the consolidation of multiple tax laws into a single code, which some people mistakenly interpreted as the creation of new enforcement powers. He emphasised that the only lawful means of recovering unpaid taxes is through a court-ordered garnishee process, which he described as “a long legal process that is almost never used.”
“Even in extreme cases where someone owes hundreds of millions and refuses to pay, the government cannot just wake up and remove money,” he said. “They must assess you, notify you, allow objections, conclude the process, go to court, and get a judge’s order. Without that, nobody can touch your account.”
Drawing from his experience, Oyedele said that in nearly 30 years of tax administration, he had “never seen a single instance where money was removed from an account without due judicial process.” He recalled an attempt under a former FIRS chairman to impose post-no-debit orders on suspected accounts, noting: “that process didn’t succeed, and it created unnecessary panic. Nobody is repeating that mistake.”
He warned that misinformation could trigger panic withdrawals with serious consequences for the economy. “One thing that can damage the economy very quickly is people rushing to withdraw their money out of fear,” he cautioned, urging the public to help dispel false narratives.
Oyedele maintained that the reforms are aimed at simplifying tax compliance, expanding the tax base and easing the burden on households and small businesses. He noted that the Tax Reform Bills were signed into law on June 26, 2025, by President Bola Tinubu.
The new legal framework includes the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service Act and the Joint Revenue Board Act. Together, the laws overhaul Nigeria’s tax system to boost economic growth, improve revenue generation, enhance the business environment and strengthen tax administration at all levels of government.
Key provisions of the reforms include exempting individuals earning N800,000 or less annually from income tax, introducing progressive tax rates of up to 25 percent for higher earners, and increasing the tax-free threshold for compensation related to loss of employment or injury from N10 million to N50 million. The laws also provide for the creation of a Tax Ombuds office to independently review and resolve tax-related complaints on behalf of taxpayers.
#Banks #file #reports #accounts #N25m #quarterly #turnover #tax #law
Leave a Reply