Why new tax law guidelines are yet to be released — Oyedele

By Kunle Sanni –

The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax Reform, Taiwo Oyedele, has said the release of implementation guidelines for Nigeria’s new tax laws has been delayed due to uncertainty surrounding the final, officially gazetted versions of the legislation.

Oyedele spoke on Wednesday in Lagos at the 2026 Economic Outlook organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

According to him, regulatory agencies have been advised to suspend the issuance of guidelines until there is clarity on the authenticated version of the laws. He said both the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Joint Revenue Board (JRB) were instructed to wait, as implementation cannot proceed without confirmation of the final gazette.

Oyedele explained that the original plan was to have all regulations, guidelines and public notices ready several months before December to allow for public consultation and finalisation. However, that timeline was not met.

He disclosed that more than 40 regulations, guidelines and public notices have already been completed but cannot be released because the officially authenticated version of the tax laws has not been confirmed. He noted that under the Acts Authentication Act, only documents published by the government printer serve as legal evidence of laws passed by the National Assembly.

The tax expert said confusion arose after the government printer published a version of the gazette that was circulated as the official law, but lawmakers later claimed it did not reflect what was passed by the National Assembly.

As a result, he said the legislature undertook its own review and produced alternative gazetted versions, which were shared electronically. Oyedele, however, noted that this process does not align with the requirements of the Acts Authentication Act, prompting his team to seek the official printed copies directly from the government printer.