When Nigeria's two tax texts disagree
What a firm should do where the gazetted text and the National Assembly's copy of Nigeria's 2025 tax Acts give different figures, and how to record it.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in Nigeria
Tax advisers are used to arguing about what a provision means. They are not used to arguing about what it says. Since January 2026, Nigerian practitioners have had to do exactly that: for some provisions of the 2025 tax Acts, the words and figures depend on which official text you open.
For a firm, this is not an academic puzzle. A client's VAT registration, its company tax rate or whether a minimum tax test applies can turn on a single figure. This article explains how the two texts arose, which one the authority applies, how Achekam handles the disputed figures, and how a firm should advise and document its position until the matter is settled.
Two official texts
The Nigeria Tax Act 2025 commenced on 1 January 2026, with tax periods before that date staying under the repealed laws. Two official texts of the 2025 tax Acts exist: the version gazetted by FIRS, and the National Assembly's own copy of January 2026. Some figures differ between them.
FIRS itself has since been rebranded as the Nigeria Revenue Service. Even the name is affected: the National Assembly's text spells it "Nigerian Revenue Service".
One example shows the stakes. A small business in Nigeria is exempt from registering for, charging and filing VAT, though it may opt in. The turnover limit for that exemption is contested: ₦50 million in the gazetted text, ₦100 million in the National Assembly's copy. A client with turnover between those figures is either exempt or not, depending on the text.
The NRS applies the gazetted laws
The authority has taken a position. The NRS says it applies the gazetted laws. Re-gazetting has been ordered, which suggests the published text may yet change.
For a firm, the NRS position is the practical starting point: it is how the authority will assess. It is not the end of the analysis. A client may have good reasons to take a different view, and the outcome of re-gazetting may change the answer. Lagos State's revenue service publishes the full gazetted text of the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, the law on income tax, the minimum effective tax rate, the development levy, VAT and stamp duties from 1 January 2026, which is the text the NRS says it applies.
Figures Achekam will not use until one is chosen
Achekam handles the conflict by refusing to pick a side on its own. It does not use the three contested Nigerian figures, the small-company turnover, the minimum effective tax rate turnover threshold and the PAYE remittance day, until one platform administrator chooses a candidate with a reason and a different administrator approves it.
Until then, a client's size class shows as undetermined, with what each candidate would give. That display is designed for the partner's decision: it shows the outcome under each text side by side.
This sits inside a wider condition. Every Nigerian tax figure in Achekam's rule book was seeded "under review", and Achekam computes nothing from a figure until an Achekam platform administrator approves it. Contested figures need the extra step of two administrators. The minimum effective tax rate case is covered in Nigeria's minimum effective tax rate, and the small-business VAT limit in the small-business VAT exemption.
Advising clients and documenting the choice
Most clients will not be affected, because their figures fall clearly on one side of both texts. The work lies with the clients in between. For each of them:
- Identify the contested figure and the client's position relative to both versions.
- Show the effect of each version on the client's tax: registration, rate, test or deadline.
- Recommend a position. In most cases, following the gazetted text the NRS applies is the defensible default. Where the client prefers the other text, explain the risk of an assessment.
- Record the decision in a file note: the figure, both versions, the position taken, who decided, the date, and the client's agreement.
A file note in this form protects both the client and the firm. If the authority later challenges the position, it shows that the choice was informed. If re-gazetting changes the text, it shows exactly which clients need revisiting.
| Situation | Approach |
|---|---|
| Client's figures clearly on one side of both texts | No decision needed; note that the conflict does not affect the client |
| Client between the two versions | Show both outcomes, recommend, record the client's decision |
| Deadline is the contested item | Work to the earlier candidate date |
Timing points need special care. Where a deadline itself is contested, working to the earlier date removes the risk: a return filed early under one text is never late under the other.
Watching for re-gazetting
Because re-gazetting has been ordered, the firm needs a way to know when it happens and whom it affects:
- Keep a register of every client decision that rests on a contested figure.
- Assign one person in the firm to follow announcements from the NRS and the National Assembly.
- When a new gazette appears, compare the figures, update the register and contact the affected clients.
Achekam's own figures will follow the same path: once platform administrators choose and approve a candidate, the undetermined size classes resolve. Check each affected client then, rather than assuming the result matches the position the firm took. Clients whose accounting year began before the Act commenced face a separate question, covered in Nigerian years that straddle 1 January 2026.
This month
Run through your Nigerian client list and mark every client whose figures fall between the two texts for any contested item. Prepare a file note for each, agree a position with the client, and start the register you will use when the new gazette arrives.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
