The Presidency has criticised blogger Tunde Ednut, accusing him of spreading misinformation about the Tax Reform Bills, whose implementation is scheduled to commence in January 2026.

Tunde Ednut had shared on social media that, starting January 1, 2026, anyone, whether Nigerian or foreigner, who does business in Nigeria and earns N800,000 or more in a year will have to pay a 20% tax on their total yearly income, regardless of whether they live in Nigeria or not.

"Whether you live in Nigeria or not, so far you do business in Nigeria, you must pay. Wow! See next post," he added.

Presidential aide, Dada Olusegun, had to clarify, owing to the "misinformation being peddled by certain bloggers on social media led by Tunde Ednut."

He said for personal income, the newly proposed tax rate is a progressive system, which means higher earners will pay more taxes while low-income earners pay less or none, as the case may be.

The rates are broken down below.

- First N800,000: 0% tax rate, which means individuals earning below this threshold are exempted from paying personal income tax.
- Next N2.2 million: 15% tax rate
- Next N9 million: 18% tax rate
- Next N13 million: 21% tax rate
- Next N25 million: 23% tax rate
- Above N50 million: 25% tax rate.

Olusegun stated that the new tax system aims to alleviate the tax burden on low-income earners and ensure fairness in wealth distribution.

He said, "For companies' income tax, currently, you start paying CIT as long as you have an annual turnover of N25million. However, the new tax bill has increased this to N50 million to ensure that small businesses grow efficiently before they start paying tax.

"As President Tinubu stated, there is no need to tax the seed anymore in Nigeria; the fruit, which has reached maturity, is the goal.

"The overall goal of the new tax bill is to ensure that low-income earners are appropriately protected while high-income earners pay their dues accordingly, thereby redistributing wealth proportionately to accelerate growth, reduce inequality and bring down inflation.

"Also important to note that the era of multiple taxation will be coming to an end as tens of taxes which citizens pay across different levels of government have now been reduced drastically to a single unit thereby reducing the burden of unnecessary and excessive taxation."

The presidential aide said the act promises to be a game-changer, "and no misinformation from mob-lifters should be welcomed. We are decades behind on this journey and no one will discourage us now, especially not fake news merchants like Tunde Ednut and his ilk."

ASA