Arguments As NASS Publishes CTCs Of Tax Laws

The National Assembly (NASS) has formally disowned the four gazetted tax laws that have generated ripples across the country following allegations of discrepancies between the versions passed by lawmakers and those later gazetted and circulated to the public.

Late on Saturday night, the legislature released the Certified True Copies (CTCs) of the approved tax laws as earlier passed by both chambers and transmitted to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for assent, effectively rejecting the controversial gazetted copies that had stirred public concern.

It is worth noting that a detailed comparison of the CTCs with the earlier gazetted versions shows that the contentious alterations have been addressed: the National Assembly approved the versions it passed and disowned the disputed gazetted documents.

The four laws, which took effect on January 1, are the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, and the Nigeria Tax Act.

The laws were passed by both chambers of the National Assembly in March, with Votes and Proceedings produced in May. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assented to the bills in June, while the laws were gazetted on June 26, according to soft copies of the official gazette obtained by journalists.

However, concerns later emerged over the authenticity of the gazetted versions, following claims that some provisions differed significantly from what lawmakers approved.

The controversy was formally brought before the House of Representatives in December last year when a member of the House, Abdussamad Dasuki, raised a matter of privilege.

Dasuki alleged discrepancies between the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the versions that were subsequently gazetted and made available to the public, prompting internal legislative scrutiny.

In a statement issued at the weekend, the spokesman of the House of Representatives, Akin Rotimi, said Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, acting in concurrence with Senate President Godswill Akpabio, directed the immediate release of the Certified True Copies of the tax laws.

The statement said the CTCs include the endorsement and assent pages signed by President Tinubu, and were released to enable public scrutiny and verification.

According to the statement, the release underscores the leadership’s commitment to transparency and legislative integrity.

The statement explained that the House leadership moved swiftly once the issue was raised.

“The attention of the House was drawn to the existence of inconsistent versions of the tax laws in circulation after a vigilant Honourable member identified discrepancies, raised the alarm, and formally reported the matter to the House on a point of privilege,” the statement read.

“Acting promptly, the Speaker ordered an internal verification and the immediate public release of the certified Acts to eliminate doubt, restore clarity, and protect the sanctity of the legislative record.”

The House leadership further reassured Nigerians that the National Assembly remains an institution governed strictly by records, procedure and institutional memory.

“In directing the release of the certified Acts, Speaker Abbas reassured Nigerians that the National Assembly remains an institution of records, guided by clearly defined rules, precedents, archival systems, and verification processes that safeguard the authenticity of every law enacted,” the statement said.

It added, “The National Assembly is an institution built on records, procedure, and institutional memory. Every Bill, every amendment, and every Act follows a traceable constitutional and parliamentary pathway. Once a law is passed and assented to, its integrity is preserved through certification and custody by the legislature. There is no ambiguity about what constitutes the law.”

The Speaker further emphasised that only the versions certified and released by the National Assembly are authentic and authoritative.

“Members of the public, institutions, professionals, and stakeholders are therefore advised to disregard and discountenance any other documents or versions in circulation that are not certified by the National Assembly, as such materials do not form part of the official legislative record,” the statement said.

The statement disclosed that the Clerk to the National Assembly has concluded the process of aligning the certified Acts with the Federal Government Printing Press to ensure accuracy, conformity and uniformity.

It added that hard copies of the certified tax laws have been produced and are being circulated to all Honourable Members and Distinguished Senators, and made available to the public to ensure institutional clarity, uniform reference and legislative certainty.

The House also confirmed that the Ad-Hoc Committee, chaired by Muktar Aliyu Betara, continues its work in line with its mandate.

According to the statement, the committee is to determine the circumstances surrounding the circulation of unauthorised versions of the tax laws and recommend measures to prevent a recurrence and preserve the authenticity and reliability of parliamentary records.

A close review of the CTCs released by the National Assembly compared with the earlier gazetted tax laws shows that major alterations have been reversed.

Under Section 3(1)(b), the bill passed by the National Assembly listed five categories of federal taxes under administration, including taxation of income from petroleum and Value Added Tax.

Both items were removed from the gazetted Act.

However, in the CTCs released by the National Assembly, the removed items have been restored exactly as contained in the original version passed.

The approved version reads that the authority shall have power to administer:

(i) Income tax;
(ii) Taxation of income from petroleum;
(iii) Stamp duties;
(iv) Value-added tax; and
(v) Tax incentives.

In the altered gazetted Act, Section 29 introduced far-reaching changes to reporting obligations.

While the National Assembly-passed version provided for annual returns, with reporting thresholds of monthly cumulative ₦50 million for individuals and ₦250 million for companies, the gazetted Act replaced this with quarterly returns and lowered the thresholds to ₦ 25m and ₦100m respectively.

Checks by Daily Trust showed that the National Assembly restored the original version in the CTCs.

The altered gazetted version also narrowed the nature of information to be supplied to tax authorities, limiting it from names, customer locations and transaction details of new and existing customers to names and addresses only.

In addition, Sections 29(3) and (4), empowering tax authorities to demand information by notice, were removed entirely.

However, the CTCs retained the original provision passed by the National Assembly, which states that such information demands must be done by notice.

The retained provision reads: “29—(3) Without prejudice to subsections (1) and (2) of this section, for the purpose of obtaining information relative to taxation, the relevant tax authority may give notice to any person including a person engaged in banking business in Nigeria to provide within the time stipulated in the notice, information including the name and address of any person specified in the notice.”

Under Section 39(3), the National Assembly-passed version allowed returns relating to petroleum operations to be computed in the currency of the transaction.

However, the altered gazetted Act mandated that such computations be made in US dollars.

The National Assembly restored the original provision in the CTCs, which states: “39.(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, tax shall be assessed in the currency of the transaction.

(2) Tax, including royalty, assessed in a currency other than the Nigerian Naira shall be paid in that currency.

(3) In the case of any return under this Act relating to petroleum operations, all computations shall be in the currency of the transaction.”

A new Section 41(8) introduced in the altered gazetted Act, requiring a taxpayer dissatisfied with a Tax Appeal Tribunal decision to deposit 20 per cent of the disputed amount before appealing to the High Court, was removed.

Similarly, Section 41(9), which formalised an appeal chain from the Tribunal to the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, was also deleted.

The National Assembly retained only Sections 41(1–7) as originally passed.

Section 61 of the altered gazetted Act permitting the Revenue Service to sell movable assets without a High Court order was expunged.

The original version retained in the CTCs states that assets may only be sold with a court order after 14 days if tax liabilities remain unpaid.

Section 64(1) of the altered gazetted Act inserted a provision empowering tax authorities to arrest suspected offenders through law enforcement agencies.

This provision was removed, with the CTCs retaining only the original investigative powers approved by the National Assembly.

In the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, alterations removing the National Assembly’s oversight powers were reversed.

Sections requiring quarterly and annual reports to the National Assembly and empowering lawmakers to summon the Service’s leadership were restored in the CTCs.

Additional accountability provisions earlier removed were also reinstated.

Insertions made to Section 9 of the Joint Revenue Board Act, broadening authorisation powers, were removed.

The CTCs retained the original provision requiring explicit authorisation by the Board.

Alterations expanding funding sources for the Revenue Service and removing direct funding of the Tax Appeal Tribunal and Tax Ombudsman from the Consolidated Revenue Fund were reversed.

The CTCs restored the original funding framework as passed by the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, has called on security agencies to be on alert over rumours of protests against the tax laws.

Speaking on Sunday during an interview on Arise Television, Adedeji cautioned Nigerians against misinformation.

“No individual, except in an emergency, can suspend the law. The law passed by the National Assembly is the law,” he said.

Ruling out any suspension, he added, “Implementation has started. People have started to see the result, and they say they want to go on a protest.

“I am using this time to call all the security agencies to be on alert.”