NIGERIA’S new tax laws are no longer a proposal, a rumour, or a theoretical policy experiment, they are in force, and they are here to stay. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu deserves credit for taking a bold but necessary step to reform a tax system that for years placed a disproportionate burden on salary earners while leaving loopholes for inefficiency and abuse. At a time when hard choices must be made to stabilise the economy and protect the most vulnerable, the administration opted for reform over populism. That decision, now backed by real-life outcomes, is proving to be both timely and pro-people. Unfortunately, from the moment the tax bills were introduced, they became targets of deliberate misinformation. Opposition figures and social media commentators, many with little understanding of tax policy, weaponised fear for political gain.
Nigerians were told their salaries would crash. Workers were warned they would take home less pay and be forced to shoulder higher taxes. PAYE was framed as a new punishment rather than a restructured relief. These falsehoods were repeated loudly and often, not because they were true, but because panic travels faster than facts in the digital age. Today, facts are catching up with fear. As January pay slips landed, Nigerians began sharing their lived experiences, not government talking points, but personal testimony. Salary earners openly confirmed that while gross figures adjusted, net pay actually increased. PAYE deductions reduced. Taxes dropped. From verified voices on social media to private messages thanking professionals who explained the law early on, the evidence is mounting: many workers are paying less tax, not more.
As some commentators rightly observed, a large number of Nigerians were never going to be negatively affected in the first place. The new tax laws are, by design, pro-poor, protective of low and middle-income earners with focus on fairness. The noise is fading. The numbers are speaking. And they are telling a very different story from the one Nigerians were sold. Beyond the immediate relief Nigerians are experiencing, these reforms are fundamentally about long-term nation-building, creating a fair, transparent, and sustainable tax system that strengthens public finance, supports development, and lays the groundwork for a more stable and prosperous Nigeria.
The noise is fading. The numbers are speaking. And they are telling a very different story from the one Nigerians were sold.
•Atoyebi, a policy analyst and finalist of the 2016 CNN Africa Journalism Awards, currently serves as Technical Assistant on Broadcast Media to the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service.
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