As a new tax regime is set to kick off in January 2026, Nigeria has announced that it has entered data-sharing agreements with over 100 countries to track the remote workers’ income.
Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, revealed this move adding that it is targeted at helping the government tax Nigerians earning money remotely or holding assets abroad.
Oyedele, speaking during a webinar hosted by the National Orientation Agency, explained that the approach aims to plug tax leakages and ensure that individuals earning foreign income are fully compliant with Nigerian tax laws.
Oyedele noted that regardless of the efforts to track remote workers’ income, every worker in Nigeria is obligated to declare their income by themselves.
Oyedele stated: “For the other categories of people who work online, the kind of people you spoke about, where companies just outsource something to them…you might have five stars, another person has 50.
“The requirement under this new law is that everybody, whether you earn your money from Google or whether you earn it from XYZ Limited in the Bahamas, you have to declare your income yourself. If you fail to do it, the system will then gather intelligence, which is when the money hits your bank account.”
Oyedele said the government has a record of transactions coming into the country, and has signed agreements with over 100 countries to gather data and track Nigerians with money and properties abroad.
“We see this money coming to your Dollar Bank account. If you put the money abroad, Nigeria has signed an agreement with over 100 countries under what is called the Common Reporting Standards. They are already sending us data about Nigerians who have money abroad, property abroad, whether it’s in Dubai, the US, Canada, or the UK. We have all that information already.”
Oyedele advised Nigerians to “do the right thing”, otherwise, the government will come knocking.
“Essentially, my point is, if it’s about data, the government can get the data. The primary obligation is to do the right thing yourself. If you fail to do it, the government will then come back to you and say, ‘We know this about you, you haven’t been honest, here’s your presumptive assessment. ’ And at that point, you have to deal with it”
He recounted how Nigeria began engaging with big tech companies three to four years ago, challenging the disparity between traditional businesses and online platforms regarding Value Added Tax (VAT).
“If you are doing your business, brick and mortar, pop and mom shop, and you sell a phone and you charge VAT, why should the person that is selling it online not charge VAT?” he said. “We went to these guys and said the services you render are liable to VAT. You are getting an undue advantage by doing it from abroad.”
Oyedele emphasized that the government adopted a collaborative approach rather than confrontation, resulting in successful agreements with the tech firms.
“We spoke to them, what are your concerns, how can we make it work, and we landed on an agreement. Today, I can tell you Nigeria is making billions of dollars from those taxes, from those digital giants, without fighting.
“Section 147 of the Nigerian Tax Administration Act says N100 million. Section 202 of the Nigerian Tax Act says N50 million for turnover,” he noted. “The answer to your question is yes, it was an error.”
Oyedele’s revelation comes after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently signed four comprehensive tax reform bills into law on June 26, 2025.
These include the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA), Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA), Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act (NRSA), and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act (JRBA)
