Taxpayers Are Focus of New Tagline — NRS

Nigeria Revenue Service has unveiled a new corporate tagline, ‘Inspiring Trust, Sustaining Growth’, declaring that public confidence, voluntary compliance and business growth will define its transformation into a modern, technology-driven revenue administration institution.

The unveiling, held in Abuja recently, marks another milestone in the transition from the defunct Federal Inland Revenue Service to the NRS, whose expanded mandate encompasses both tax and non-tax revenue administration.

The Service says the new tagline represents more than a change in corporate identity.

NRS explained that the tagline embodies a commitment to building public trust, simplifying compliance, strengthening institutional capacity and supporting the Federal Government’s ambition to growing Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman of the NRS, Tayo Koleosho, said the new identity reflected the Service’s determination to place trust at the heart of its relationship with taxpayers.

According to him, an efficient revenue administration system must inspire confidence among taxpayers that their information is secure, their assessments are fair and their interactions with revenue officials are transparent and professional.

He explained that trust must begin within the organisation, with employees demonstrating the integrity, professionalism and accountability necessary to earn taxpayers’ confidence.

“If we don’t start from inside, where our staff members understand that the job of revenue collection involves people trusting each other, then we cannot achieve the objective,” he stated.

Koleosho stressed that the NRS was committed to building a revenue system that supports business expansion rather than stifling enterprise through excessive tax burdens.

He invoked the philosophy of the Executive Chairman, Dr Zacch Adedeji, that the Service seeks to “tax the fruit, not the seed,” explaining that sustainable revenue growth depends on allowing businesses to flourish.

Under this approach, he added, emerging enterprises should be encouraged to grow into medium-sized and eventually large businesses, thereby expanding economic activities, creating employment and broadening the country’s revenue base.

“The more you grow, the more the tax authorities collect. So that will then help us to sustain the growth on our side,” he said

Revenue Growth Without Higher Tax Rates

Koleosho expressed confidence that the NRS would meet the Federal Government’s revenue target for 2026, attributing the Service’s performance to economic expansion, increased productivity and improvements in tax administration.

He maintained that the ongoing reforms were designed to improve the efficiency of revenue collection rather than depend on increases in existing tax rates.

“The new tax bill and everything have stabilised in terms of the rate; there’s no new rate increase. It’s just our ability for the Service to do better in terms of how we are collecting from taxpayers,” he stated.

He identified digitisation as a major driver of the transformation, citing electronic invoicing and the Tax 360 payment system as initiatives aimed at simplifying compliance and reducing the administrative burden on businesses.

According to him, the platforms are helping companies fulfil their obligations with less disruption in their operations while improving the accuracy, transparency and efficiency of revenue administration.

Koleosho explained that the combination of economic growth and more effective collection processes had strengthened the government’s capacity to generate additional revenue without relying solely on higher tax rates.

He expressed optimism that the improvements would be sustained, adding that the Service would achieve its annual revenue target before the end of 2026.

The Chief of Staff expressed certainty that Nigeria’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy by 2030 would require strong institutions capable of earning public confidence and supporting private-sector growth.

Beyond Tax Collection: A Broader Institutional Mandate

In his own contribution, the Group Director, Transformation and Strategy, Alfred Okoh, said the new tagline captured the fundamental shift in the Service’s responsibilities under the NRS Establishment Act.

“We’re now a new revenue administration, and we’re not just talking taxes. So there are non-tax revenues that we are also accounting for with the new tax law, and therefore, the new tagline is reflective of that ambition,” Okoh stated.

He noted that the previous FIRS tagline, ‘It pays to pay your tax’, appropriately reflected the agency’s former tax-centred identity, while the new tagline communicates the wider responsibilities and aspirations of the NRS.

“We’re moving away from the previous tagline that was tax-focused, to the new tagline that is focused on revenue administration: ‘Inspiring Trust, Sustaining Growth’,” he stated.

Okoh said the Service’s transformation was anchored on expanding revenue coverage, improving operational efficiency, deepening public confidence and contributing to sustainable national development.

How 3,308 Staff Entries Produced the New Tagline

Providing details of the selection process, Okoh disclosed that the new tagline emerged from an organisation-wide competition that attracted 3,308 entries from NRS employees within six working days of its commencement on August 10.

He said the exercise drew participation from every directorate and employees across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, reflecting widespread enthusiasm for the Service’s emerging corporate identity.

The entries underwent a rigorous three-stage screening process, with the initial 3,308 submissions reduced to 112 and subsequently 85.

Seven finalists were thereafter presented to the Tax Controllers Committee of Judges before management considered the final four entries.

Okoh explained that submissions were evaluated on strategic alignment, originality, clarity, memorability, emotional connection with taxpayers and their capacity to communicate the Service’s mission.

“We were not looking for clever phrases; we were looking for words capable of carrying a national institution like ours,” he said.

Drawing comparisons with globally recognised corporate slogans, including Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ and LG’s ‘Life’s Good’, Okoh stressed that the NRS wanted a tagline that would become instantly recognisable and synonymous with its institutional values.

Taxpayer Experience Will Determine Success

Okoh, however, cautioned that the true measure of the new tagline would not be its popularity but the extent to which taxpayers experience its promises in their interactions with the NRS.

He said the Service must demonstrate its commitment through simpler procedures, improved service delivery, effective deployment of technology, responsible use of data and greater collaboration among employees.

He stated, “Transformation is not achieved by technology alone, not by a new logo nor by a powerful tagline.
“It is achieved when the words on the wall begin to make sense; when a taxpayer experiences the promise behind the tagline; when our people collaborate across organisational boundaries; when we simplify rather than complicate; when we use data to make better decisions, and when every interaction reinforces the trust and confidence that a modern revenue institution like ours must earn.”

Director of Change Management, Mrs Olanike Adegoke, described the unveiling as a demonstration of collective ownership of the NRS transformation agenda.

Adegoke said the new corporate identity was not imposed by management but emerged from the creativity, participation and shared aspirations of employees across the organisation.

• NRS backs procurement reforms to curb abandoned projects
• Tax Ombud warns against multiple levies, arbitrary assessments
• Low-income earners exempted from tax under new law — NRS

Comparing the Service to an octopus whose many arms work towards a common purpose, Adegoke emphasised the importance of unity, adaptability and collaboration in achieving institutional transformation.

“This competition reminds us that the identity of the Nigeria Revenue Service is not shaped by top management alone; it is strengthened by the people who make this revenue administration what we are,” she said.

States generate N5.15tn, PAYE tops tax revenue

The 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory generated N5.15tn in internally generated revenue in 2025, with taxes deducted from workers’ salaries providing the biggest source of tax revenue, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The latest Internally Generated Revenue at State Level report, published recently, showed that total IGR rose by 40.93 per cent from N3.65tn in 2024. This means sub-national governments generated about N1.50tn more revenue within one year.

“The 36 states and the FCT generated a total of N5.15tn in 2025, indicating a growth rate of 40.93 per cent from N3.65tn recorded in 2024,” the NBS said.

A breakdown shows that tax revenue accounted for N3.79tn, or 73.64 per cent of total IGR, while revenue generated administratively by ministries, departments and agencies stands at N1.36tn, representing 26.36 per cent.

NBS stated that Pay As You Earn tax was the dominant component, generating N2.64tn. This represents 69.51 per cent of all tax revenue and about 51.3 per cent of the entire N5.15tn collected by states and the FCT.

In effect, more than N1 of every N2 generated internally by sub-national governments came from PAYE, highlighting their continued reliance on formal-sector workers as a major source of domestic revenue.

The bureau said, “PAYE was the most tax revenue recorded during the period, valued at N2.64tn, representing 69.51 per cent of the total tax revenue collected, while capital gains tax was the least with N12.40bn.”

The NBS defines PAYE as personal income tax deducted directly from the wages and salaries of employees in the formal sector, with employers responsible for deducting the taxes from their employees’ earnings. Other tax sources captured in the report included direct assessment, road taxes, stamp duties, capital gains tax, withholding taxes, other taxes and local government revenue.

The report also exposed a wide gap in revenue capacity across states. Lagos generated N1.77tn, the highest in the country and about 34 per cent of the national total. This means roughly N1 in every N3 of IGR collected across the federation came from Lagos.

Rivers ranked second with N428.42bn, while Enugu emerged third with N406.77bn.

The NBS said, “Lagos, Rivers, and Enugu states recorded the highest IGR with N1.77tn, N428.42bn and N406.77bn, respectively over the reference period.”

The composition of their revenues, however, differed significantly.

Lagos collected N1.48tn in taxes and N292.64bn from MDAs, while Rivers generated N414.38bn from taxes and N14.03bn from MDAs. In Enugu, the pattern was reversed, with only N51.52bn coming from taxes while MDAs accounted for N355.25bn.

The FCT generated N356.34bn, followed by Ogun with N252.36bn and Delta with N202.49bn. Edo recorded N132.21bn, while Oyo, Kano and AkwaIbom generated N103.25bn, N102.26bn and N100.80bn, respectively.

At the lower end, Yobe recorded the smallest IGR at N16.01bn, followed by Ebonyi with N17.18bn and Sokoto with N20.48bn.

Taraba generated N28.16bn, Benue N29.57bn, Zamfara N30.07bn and Kebbi N31.23bn, underscoring the sharp differences in taxable economic activities and administrative revenue capacity across states.

• The PUNCH

What your taxes do

Ibadan-Ife-Ilesha expressway reconstruction

The Ibadan–Ife–Ilesa Expressway reconstruction is a Federal Government project to rebuild the corridor as a durable dual carriageway with concrete pavement. It was re-awarded to a new contractor after the Kopek contract was terminated for poor progress and delays.

Length: 108.4 kilometres of dual carriageway
Route: Iwo Road Junction, Ibadan (Oyo State) to Ilesa (Osun State), passing through Ife

Mode: Conversion from asphalt to Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement

Contractor: CBC Global Civil and Building Construction Nigeria Limited

Cost: N427bn, ratified by the Federal Executive Council in March 2026

Timeline:Three years. By July 2026, CBC said it had reached 65 percent completion on a lane

Durability: 50-year durability guarantee. Ministry expects at least 10 years before major maintenance

FACT-CHECK: Kingibe lied on 25% income tax after APC win in 2027

Senator Ireti Kingibe says Nigerians will pay 25 percent of their income in tax after the 2027 elections, but the law sets out different tax rates based on taxable income.

Kingibe has claimed that a law requiring every Nigerian to pay 25 percent of their income as tax will be implemented after the 2027 general elections if the All Progressives Congress wins the polls next year.

In a video circulating online recently, the Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory said the National Assembly had passed the law.

“You people are not aware, but we have signed a law that every Nigerian must pay 25 percent of their income as tax. The National Assembly has approved it. If APC wins in 2027, immediately after the elections, they (government) will implement it,” she said.

The provisions of the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 do not support the claim that every Nigerian will pay 25 percent of their income as tax.

The Act introduces a progressive personal income tax system, under which the rate increases as taxable income rises. The highest rate is 25 percent, but it applies only to the portion of annual taxable income above N50m.

Under the law’s Fourth Schedule, the personal income tax rates are:

• First N800,000: 0%
• Next N2.2m: 15%
• Next N9m: 18%
• Next N13m: 21%
• Next N25m: 23%
• Above N50m: 25%

This means that the 25 percent rate is not charged on every Nigerian’s entire income.

For example, a person with annual taxable income of N2m would pay 0% on the first N800,000 and 15% on the remaining N1.2m. That amounts to N180,000 in tax before any other applicable adjustments.
The first N800,000 of annual taxable income falls within the 0% band. It is important to note that these tax rates are applied only to ‘chargeable income’ — what remains after deducting allowable expenses like pension contributions and rent relief
The law’s commencement date also contradicts Kingibe’s claim that implementation of the existing tax framework is scheduled to begin only after the 2027 elections.
•Pulse

Q & A: How are VAT revenues distributed among levels of government?

 VAT revenue is distributed as follows: 10% to the Federal Government, 55% to state governments and the FCT, and 35% to local governments, based on equality, population, and consumption.

 Taxable Line: I urge all the countrymen to take a pledge, remembering those who dedicated their lives to the country, that they will pay their taxes honestly – Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India (February 12, 2020)