The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has dismissed rumours surrounding the implementation of the Nigerian Tax Administration Act (NTAA), clarifying that individuals and companies are not required to obtain a physical tax identification card.
In a sensitisation video released on Monday, Aderonke Atoyebi, Technical Assistant on Broadcast Media to the Executive Chairman of FIRS, explained that the National Identification Number (NIN) already serves as the tax identification number for individuals, while the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration number applies to registered companies.
Atoyebi said the clarification became necessary in response to widespread misinformation about the new tax reform laws ahead of their implementation in January. She noted that the use of tax identification numbers was not new, stressing that the requirement had existed since the Finance Act of 2019 but had now been reinforced under the NTAA.
“The tax ID unifies all things previously issued by FIRS and state IRS into a single identifier. For individuals, your NIN automatically serves as your tax ID, while for companies, that is for registered companies, your CAC RC number is used,” she said.
“You do not need a physical card. Please, enough of the rumors. You do not at all need a physical card. The tax ID is a unique number linked directly to your identity.”
According to her, the new tax ID system is designed to simplify identification, reduce duplication, close loopholes for tax evasion and ensure fairness in the tax system.
“The new tax ID system simplifies identification, reduces duplication, closes loopholes for tax evasion, and ensures fairness, so that everyone who earns taxable income contributes their share, while protecting non-taxable, low-income citizens,” Atoyebi added.
Her remarks come amid recent directives by commercial banks requesting customers to link their bank accounts to their NINs or tax identification numbers in preparation for the new tax regime. The banks said all accounts must be linked to a tax ID before 2026 to meet legal requirements, advising customers without a separate tax ID to use their NIN.
In June, President Bola Tinubu signed four major tax reform bills into law, namely the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, laying the groundwork for the ongoing reforms
