“90% Of Tax Consultants Sell Evasion” — Oyedele Warns Of New Rules To Check Corrupt Tax Practitioners

*Explains Tax Liability for Remote Work and Online Income

The Federal Government has warned that Nigerians earning income from any source including remote work, social media influencing, and business imports—will be liable for tax under the new tax reforms set to take effect from January 1, 2026.

Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, made the clarification during a tax education session hosted by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, City of David, Lagos. In a viral video from the event, Oyedele stressed that all income earned by Nigerians, regardless of whether it comes from a domestic or foreign source, must be declared and taxed.

“If you are a remote worker, you are a worker, right? You just happen to do your work remotely. You work for a company maybe in the U.S., Europe, anywhere—and you earn a salary. That amount of money is your salary, and you must self-declare it. If your employer were in Nigeria, they would deduct and pay on your behalf. Because your employer is not in Nigeria, they don’t care about the Nigerian tax system,” Oyedele explained.

In addition, Oyedele, who is championing awareness for the new tax law, accused 90 percent of tax consultants in Nigeria of being involved in “selling tax evasion.” “We have tens of thousands of tax consultants lawyers, accountants, and tax practitioners. The vast majority of them, 90 percent, are selling tax evasion for a living,” he said.

He described how some consultants allegedly bribe tax officials and manipulate company accounts to help clients evade their obligations. “They go to a company, the tax they are supposed to pay is N10 million, and they say nobody pays N10 million. They cook the books so the company pays N1 million, bribe the tax officer, keep the rest, and move on to the next client,” Oyedele said.

The tax czar warned that such practices, combined with corrupt politicians, undermine national development. He also outlined the requirements under the new rules for tax consultants: “To represent anyone as a tax consultant, you must pass a competency test, an integrity test, and demonstrate compliance. You cannot give what you don’t have.”

The post “90% Of Tax Consultants Sell Evasion” — Oyedele Warns Of New Rules To Check Corrupt Tax Practitioners appeared first on TheNigeriaLawyer.