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The chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has said Nigeria’s new tax reform law provides up to 10-year incentives for haulage and logistics operators. The law aims to ease business costs and promote investment in the transport sector. Oyedele disclosed this at the 2025 Haulage and Logistics Magazine Annual Conference and Exhibition (HAULMACE) held yesterday in Lagos. The reforms seek to eliminate outdated laws, simplify tax administration, and reduce the burden on small and medium-scale businesses, focusing on promoting economic growth and reducing poverty. He explained that the reform recognises the transport and logistics sector, including road haulage, electric, and CNG-powered vehicles, as a priority area that will drive economic recovery and industrial growth. According to him, this new tax reform Act includes many tax incentives. The major one is what we call economic development incentives for priority sectors. The tax law identifies priority sectors, such as the transport sector, for tax incentives, some of which include exemptions for up to 10 years. He noted that the ongoing tax reforms represent the most significant overhaul of Nigeria’s fiscal framework since independence. They aim to eliminate outdated laws, simplify tax administration, and reduce the burden on small and medium-scale businesses. Oyedele decried the existence of over 60 official and more than 200 unofficial levies imposed on businesses, especially in the transport sector. To address the issue, Oyedele said the new law introduces a tax harmonisation framework that limits the number of levies payable by individuals and businesses to a single-digit figure. He further disclosed that the reforms outlaw physical tax collection barriers on roads and prohibit the collection of taxes in cash, saying these measures will curb extortion and improve revenue transparency. Oyedele emphasised that the administration’s tax strategy seeks to shift the burden away from low-income earners while protecting vulnerable groups, explaining that “we are taxing poverty in Nigeria, and that must stop. No country can become wealthy by taxing its poorest people.” He also announced plans to establish a Tax Ombud Office to protect businesses and individuals from harassment by revenue officials, adding that “the Ombud is meant to solve your problem quickly, within 24 to 48 hours, at no cost to you whatsoever.” Alfred Okugbeni, the conference convener and chief executive officer of Haulage and Logistics Magazine, described this edition of HAULMACE as timely, coming at a time when taxation and economic reforms dominate national discourse. He said the theme, ‘Tax Reforms from Policy to Practice: Challenges and Opportunities for the Nigerian Haulage Industry’, was chosen to enable stakeholders to examine how the newly enacted tax law could reshape the logistics and supply chain sector. Okugbeni identified multiple taxation and illegal levies as major factors inflating the cost of transporting goods across the country. “If you look at inflation figures critically, food inflation is a major driver of overall inflation, and transportation is a major driver of food inflation. The reason is that a lot of taxes and levies happen along the way,” he said. He described the reform as a groundbreaking initiative that signals the government’s renewed commitment to fiscal responsibility, but cautioned that its success will depend on proper execution.
