by Taiwo Oyedele
From 1 January 2026, the new tax laws will provide many reliefs and exemptions for low-income earners, average taxpayers, and small businesses including:
๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐ฑ ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐
1. Individuals earning the national minimum wage or less (exempt)
2. Annual gross income up to โฆ1,200,000 (translating to about โฆ800,000 taxable income) is exempt
3. Reduced PAYE tax for those earning annual gross income up to โฆ20 million
4. Gifts (exempt)
๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ & ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ
5. Pension contribution to PFA
6. National Health Insurance Scheme
7. National Housing Fund contributions
8. Interest on loans for owner-occupied residential housing
9. Life insurance or annuity premiums
10. Rent relief – 20% of annual rent (up to โฆ500,000)
๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ & ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ – ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ
11. Pension funds and assets under the Pension Reform Act (PRA) are tax-exempt.
12. Pension, gratuity or any retirement benefits granted in line with the PRA
13. Compensation for loss of employment up to โฆ50 million ๐๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฑ (๐๐๐) – ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ
14. Sale of an owner-occupied house
15. Personal effects or chattels worth up to โฆ5 million
16. Sale of up to two private vehicles per year
17. Gains on shares below โฆ150 million per year or gains up to โฆ10 million
18. Gains on shares above exemption threshold if the proceed is reinvested
19. Pension funds, charities, and religious institutions (non-commercial)
๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐ฑ (๐๐๐) – ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ
20. Small companies (turnover not more than โฆ100 million and total fixed assets not more than โฆ250 million) pay 0% tax
21. Eligible (labelled) startups are exempt
22. Compensation relief – 50% additional deduction for salary increases, wage awards, or transport subsidies for low-income workers
23. Employment relief – 50% deduction for salaries of new employees hired and retained for at least three years
24. Tax holiday for the first 5-years for agricultural businesses (crop production, livestock, dairy etc)
25. Gains from investment in a labeled startup by venture capitalist, private equity fund, accelerators or incubatorsย
๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ฒ – ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ
26. Small companies are exempt from 4% development levy
๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฑ – ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ
27. Small companies, manufacturers and agric businesses are exempt from withholding tax deduction on their income
28. Small companies are exempt from deduction on their payments to suppliers ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฑ (๐๐๐) – 0% ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ
29. Basic food items – 0% VAT
30. Rent – Exempt
31. Education services and materials – 0% VAT
32. Health and medical services
33. Pharmaceutical products – 0% VAT
34. Small companies (โค โฆ100m turnover) are exempt from charging VAT
35. Diesel, petrol, and solar power equipment – VAT suspended or exempt
36. Refund of VAT on assets and overheads to produce VATable or 0% VAT goods and services
37. Agricultural inputs – fertilizers, seeds, seedlings, feeds, and live animals
38. Purchase, lease or hire of equipment for agric purposesย
39. Disability aids – hearing aids, wheelchairs, braille materials
40. Transport – shared passenger road transport (non-charter)
41. Electric vehicles and parts – exempt
42. Humanitarian supplies – exempt
43. Baby productsย
44. Sanitary towels, pads or tampons
45. Land and building
๐๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ – ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ
46. Electronic money transfers below โฆ10,000
47. Salary payments
48. Intra-bank transfers
49. Transfers of government securities or shares
50. All documents for transfer of stocks and shares
