The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, stated that, starting January 1, 2026, all income earned by Nigerians, from remote work, social media influencing, or business imports, will be subject to tax under the new reforms.

Oyedele, explained this during a tax education session at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, City of David, Lagos.

In a video shared on social media Tuesday, Oyedele stressed that Nigerians working remotely for foreign companies are legally obliged to declare such earnings and pay tax in Nigeria.

“If you are a remote worker, you are a worker, right? You just happen to do your work remotely. You work for a company, that company might be an American company, somewhere in Europe, anywhere, and you earn a salary.

“That amount of money they pay to you is your salary. You will self-declare it. Because if your employer were to be in Nigeria, they will deduct and pay on your behalf. Because your employer is not in Nigeria, they don’t care about the Nigerian tax system,” he said.

Oyedele warned that remote workers who fail to declare their income will be identified and sanctioned.

“So the obligation falls on you to self-declare. If you now refuse to declare, the government will see the movement of the money, and say you failed to declare, and they will deem it as your income, charge you tax on it, add penalty, add interest for delayed payments,” he added.

He stressed that the same rules apply to social media influencers earning income online.

The tax expert also addressed concerns from importers, explaining that tax reliefs would vary depending on the nature of their business, whether trading, manufacturing, or other sectors.

“The next question is importers. Do they have any reliefs? We do look at importers as a separate line of business. So if you are importing, there’s something you’re doing. It’s either you are into trade, manufacturing, or whatever it is. Depending on the business you are importing to do, you will see some reliefs for that sector,” he noted.

Oyedele reassured taxpayers that the new law clearly specifies which tier of government is responsible for which taxes, addressing fears of overlapping levies.

The key points of the new tax law includes exemption of employees earning under N800,000 annually from personal income tax, streamlines federal taxes, and gives the Federal Inland Revenue Service sole authority to collect them.