Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Sunday, monitored by BrandIconImage, the Executive Chairman of the NRS, Zacchaeus Adedeji, explained that the reforms were designed to ease the financial burden on the poor rather than increase taxes on them.
According to Adedeji, the government is not imposing additional taxes on citizens, stressing that extensive exemptions have been built into the new law. He noted that more than 95 percent of Nigerians classified as poor are completely exempt from the tax net.
He further highlighted the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on all food items as a major relief for low-income households. Adedeji explained that food accounts for about 90 percent of the disposable income of the poor, making the exemption particularly significant.
“We remove VAT totally from those ones. The same thing applies to transportation, which is also critical for the poor,” he said.
Adedeji maintained that when the exemptions on essential goods and services are considered together, the overall impact of the tax reforms clearly favors vulnerable Nigerians.
“So if you look at the total and the net benefit, the poor are the most beneficiary of this tax reform,” he added.
The comments come amid ongoing public debate over the implications of the federal government’s fiscal reforms, with officials insisting that the measures are aimed at promoting fairness, protecting low-income earners, and strengthening the country’s revenue system without worsening inequality.