Anambra State has change into the third state in Nigeria to undertake the Harmonised Taxes and Levies Legislation, signalling rising momentum amongst sub-national governments to reform and modernise income administration.
This adopted the signing of the regulation on Tuesday in Awka by Anambra State Governor, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, in accordance with a press assertion from the Joint Income Board.
The event comes simply days after Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, signed an analogous income reform regulation, reinforcing a broader alignment with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s nationwide tax reform agenda.
The current enactments construct on the sooner passage of the Ekiti State Income Administration Legislation, marking a coordinated shift by states towards harmonised, clear, and people-focused income techniques.
What they’re saying
In line with the assertion, Governor Soludo’s assent makes Anambra the third state to formally undertake the Harmonised Taxes and Levies Legislation, which standardises authorised taxes and levies collectible by the state.
- In Zamfara, Governor Dauda Lawal signed into regulation a complete framework repealing and re-enacting the state’s consolidated income legal guidelines, establishing the Zamfara State Inside Income Service, and offering for the harmonisation of tax and non-tax revenues.
- The Zamfara regulation additionally creates a authorized framework for efficient tax administration, masking evaluation, assortment, and accounting of revenues accruing to the state authorities.
- Collectively, the reforms are geared toward dismantling fragmented and outdated income practices and changing them with coherent, technology-driven, and economically environment friendly techniques.
“The enactment of those legal guidelines displays a transparent coverage path by State Governments to dismantle fragmented and outdated income practices, changing them with a professional folks, coherent and harmonised system that leverages know-how, prioritises equity and fairness, certainty, and financial effectivity,” the assertion learn.
“By aligning authorised taxes and levies inside the nationwide tax reforms framework, the States have taken a serious step towards eliminating a number of and overlapping costs that had imposed undue pressure on residents and companies alike,” it added.
Advantages for companies and traders
Past administrative effectivity, the harmonised income regime is anticipated to reinforce transparency and curb arbitrary tax and levy collections on the sub-national stage.
The assertion stated this is able to assist restore confidence in authorities establishments and create a extra predictable working setting for commerce and funding.
Small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), which are sometimes most affected by casual levies and enforcement abuses, are anticipated to profit considerably from the clearer and extra constant tax framework.
- The reforms are in step with the broader fiscal and financial agenda on the nationwide stage, which seeks to simplify governance processes and enhance compliance by readability reasonably than coercion.
- In line with the assertion, the goal is to make sure that public income techniques serve developmental functions as an alternative of being purely extractive.
- The Board additionally acknowledged rising momentum throughout the federation, noting that a number of states, together with Lagos, Katsina and Bauchi have superior legislative processes towards enacting harmonised taxes and levies legal guidelines.
What you must know
Final week, Ekiti State grew to become the primary subnational entity in Nigeria to cultivate the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA) as Governor Biodun Oyebanji signed the Ekiti State Income Administration Legislation, 2025.
The 2025 Income Administration Legislation repeals the Ekiti State Board of Inside Income Legislation of 2019. It goals to modernize tax assortment and remove systemic inefficiencies.
The regulation additionally created as centralized authority permitting the Ekiti State Inside Income Service (EKIRS) to carry the only authority for income assortment, successfully curbing the actions of unauthorized third-party collectors.
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