Despite low trust in tax authorities, 74.4 per cent of Nigerian households recognise the government’s right to collect taxes, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has said.Buy Maps
The finding is from a nationwide survey covering 18,000 households and 9,097 businesses across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), presented in Abuja during a plenary at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#32).
The session, themed “Rethinking the Tax Contract: Building Trust, Fairness and Compliance,” brought together government officials, civil society and tech experts to examine how to rebuild trust and drive voluntary compliance.
Informal levies, illegal charges widespread
The survey found that 67.2% of households had at least once encountered informal levies imposed by non-government actors, while 13.9% of businesses said they were asked to pay charges they considered illegal – highlighting the burden of multiple taxation.
Trust in tax authorities scored 2.01 out of 4 points.
Knowledge gap, unequal burden
NESG reported a gap in tax knowledge: only 40% of households have moderate understanding of tax laws, compared to 80% of businesses that are aware of the laws.
Other concerns identified include perceived unequal tax burdens, disparity in use of digital tax services, and limited channels to report complaints.
According to NESG, improving compliance will require simpler procedures, better communication, fair administration and clear evidence that tax revenues are improving lives, not just enforcement.
Reforms underway – JRB
Executive Secretary of the Joint Revenue Board, Olusegun Adesokan, said ongoing reforms are anchored on fairness, equity, accountability and transparency.
He said government is harmonising taxes collected by states and LGAs to reduce multiplicity. 20 states have adopted the harmonised tax framework, while legislation is under review in 17 others.
Adesokan also cited uniform presumptive tax regulations introduced by the Minister of Finance to ensure consistent treatment, particularly for small businesses without full records.
He added that strengthening autonomy of State Internal Revenue Services is critical. Of 37 subnational tax authorities assessed, 15 are fully autonomous, 15 partly autonomous, and 7 have no autonomy.
