The federal government of Nigeria has declared that commercial sex workers would start paying tax on income earned from the services they render based on tax reforms set to be introduced by the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
This position was announced by the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, who made the statement in a now-viral video from a tax education session by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, City of David, Lagos.
He explained that the law backing the new tax reforms set to go into effect in the year 2026, requires taxes to be paid for any service or product as long as payment is made for such, stressing that the law on taxation doesn’t ask if the business itself is legitimate or not, but makes income taxable as long as payment is made for a product or service.
Naija News reports that the chairman of the presidential committee, however, clarified that upkeep money sent to dependants or relatives as gifts is not taxable, describing such transfers as “non-exchange transactions,” and explaining that the sender is expected to have paid tax on such money.
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He said, “You earn a certain amount of money and you have to send upkeep to your cousin, your brother, even a stranger, it doesn’t really matter.
“If the amount you’re sending to someone is money you are giving to them as a gift, that’s not taxable. It is you that should have paid tax before giving them a gift.”
“If somebody is doing runs girls, right, they go and look for men to sleep with, you know that’s a service, they will pay tax on it.
“One thing about the tax law is it does not separate between whether what you are doing is legitimate or not. It just asks you whether you have an income.
“Did you get it from rendering a service or providing a good? You pay tax.”
Oyedele, however, urged Nigerians to avoid looking at the tax reforms as a way for the government to collect money from citizens, but to look at it holistically, including the benefits the reforms would bring.
He emphasized that the reforms would impact individuals, business owners, employees, employers, and civil servants, with the aim of simplifying the tax system and improving compliance.
He said, “The starting point for me is always to give context. And the first thing, the first message, is a proverbial blind man and an elephant.
“Depending on the side of the elephant that they touched, they concluded what it was, maybe a fan, a wall, or a tree. But none of them got the right answer because they didn’t feel the big picture.”
“One thing I can tell you is that the tax reforms enacted into law a few months ago, that will take effect from January next year, is the most transformative, most significant in our nation’s history.
“With over 200 significant changes and more than 400 pages combined, it is very easy and could be tempting to narrow it down to one issue. That would be making the same mistake as the blind man and the elephant.”
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