- New order applies uniformly across federal, state, FCT tax authorities, ties interest charges on unpaid taxes to borrowing costs
- Zacch Adedeji: new NRS tagline to inspire taxpayer confidence, boost revenue collection, growth aspiration, others
Ndubuisi Francis and James Emejo in Abuja
The federal government yesterday issued the Nigeria Tax Administration (Interest on Late Payment of Tax) Order, 2026, which sets the applicable interest rate for delayed payment of tax, as provided under section 65 of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, who issued the Order which becomes effective October 1, 2026, said it applies uniformly across federal, state and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) tax authorities.
This comes as Executive Chairman, Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Dr. Zacch Adedeji, yesterday unveiled a new institutional tagline, “Inspiring Trust, Sustaining Growth,” in a concerted drive to deepen taxpayer confidence, improve revenue collection and support Nigeria’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
Speaking at the event, Adedeji said the tagline represented a shift in the identity of the agency as it moves beyond its traditional tax-collection role to a broader revenue-administration mandate under the new NRS establishment framework.
Adedeji noted that the new identity was designed to address what he described as a fundamental requirement for stronger revenue mobilisation — trust between the revenue authority, taxpayers and the wider economy.
However, the Federal Ministry of Finance said the tax order links the cost of late payment more closely to market rates, and gives taxpayers certainty about what late payment costs, together with applicable default penalty.
According to the ministry, it ensures that holding on to tax that is due is not cheaper than borrowing from the market.
For naira-denominated tax, interest is charged at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Rate plus one percentage point.
This is a reduction from the spread of five percentage point previously applicable, although the rate will not fall below the yield on 364-day Treasury Bills, which reflects what it costs government to fund itself when taxes are paid late.
For tax payable in foreign currency, interest is charged at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), the international benchmark for United States dollar rates, plus six percentage points.
The statement explained that if SOFR is discontinued, its official successor rate will apply, adding that one rate will apply for each calendar month.
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has been directed to publish the applicable rates on its website by the third business day of every month.
Speaking on the new Order, Oyedele explained the link between unpaid taxes and government borrowing costs, adding: “Tax that is due belongs to the public. When it is paid late, the government may have to borrow to fill the gap, and the cost falls on everyone.”
He stressed, “This Order ties the cost of late payment to real market rates, so that delaying tax does not become a cheaper form of credit than the market itself.
“Every taxpayer, whether dealing with the Nigeria Revenue Service or a State revenue service, will know the rate in advance, see it published every month, and be charged in the same way.
“Clear rules make compliance easier and support a fair, predictable tax system.”
Oyedele clarified the framework would also give taxpayers greater certainty about the financial consequences of paying their taxes late.
Providing further clarity on the Order, the minister said the new rates apply to interest arising from October 1, 2026, including interest on tax that became due before that date.
According to the ministry, interest that arose before October 1, 2026 is not affected to the extent that it is specifically provided for under the rules in force at the time.
“The Order supersedes the 2017 notice on interest on unpaid taxes and any other earlier notices on the subject,” the ministry said, a veiled reference to the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) under late President Muhammadu Buhari, which formally took off July 1, 2017, and designed to ensure voluntary disclosure of previously undisclosed assets and income for the purpose of payment of all outstanding tax liabilities.
The Nigeria Tax Administration (Interest on Late Payment of Tax) Order, 2026, does not change the 10 per cent penalty for late payment under section 65 of the Act. Relevant tax authorities also retain their power under section 66 of the Act to waive penalty or interest where good cause is shown.
The finance ministry urged taxpayers to file their returns and pay applicable taxes on time, and to check the monthly rates on the Nigeria Revenue Service website.
“Those with outstanding liabilities are advised to settle them promptly or engage the relevant tax authority,” it admonished.
Nonetheless, Adedeji said sustainable improvement in revenue collection could not be achieved simply through higher tax rates, stressing that taxpayers must have confidence that their information would be protected, assessments would be fair and interactions with the tax authority would remain professional and responsive.
According to the NRS boss, the tagline encapsulates the culture the service seeks to build internally and externally as it pursues higher productivity and more efficient revenue administration.
He said, “For increased revenue generation and collection, Nigerians need to trust the service”, adding that such trust must begin within the organisation, with staff understanding that revenue collection ultimately depended on relationships between the government and the citizens who fund it.
He said the service was therefore seeking to build a system in which taxpayers could engage with the authority with greater confidence, while the NRS improved its own capacity to deliver efficient services.
Adedeji linked the initiative to the broader economic ambition of the administration, noting that President Bola Tinubu had articulated a target of building a $1 trillion Nigerian economy by 2030.
He said achieving the target required Nigerians to trust public institutions and the systems through which government revenue was collected and deployed.
The NRS chairman also attributed the service’s revenue performance to the resilience of the economy, productivity improvements and ongoing reforms in tax administration.
He stressed that the current reform programme was not predicated on continually increasing tax rates, noting that the emphasis was increasingly on improving collection efficiency and expanding the effectiveness of the revenue system.
He said, “The new tax law and the broader reforms have provided stability in terms of tax rates. There is no new rate increase. It is about the ability of the service to do better in terms of how we collect from taxpayers, while improving productivity and tax administration in the country.”
Adedeji identified digital transformation as a major component of the strategy, pointing to electronic invoicing and the new Rev 360 tax payment platform as initiatives intended to reduce the time businesses spend complying with tax obligations and minimise disruptions to their operations.
He said the combination of improved administration, technology and productivity had created an avenue for the country to increase revenue without relying primarily on higher tax rates.
“All these have come together to enable the country to collect more revenue without raising tax rates, simply by improving efficiency across the entire ecosystem,” he said.
Adedeji expressed confidence that the approach would enable the NRS to meet its revenue target for the year.
The chairman also disclosed that the service was strengthening its internal capacity under his drive to make the organisation increasingly self-reliant, saying the new tagline itself was the product of an in-house, bottom-up process.
He cited the development of the NRS tax observatory and electronic invoicing system as examples of initiatives being developed internally.
According to him, the service’s workforce is undergoing training and skills development, with a growing number of young professionals being equipped to support the transformation of the revenue administration.
He described the emerging NRS workforce as agile and capable of helping the institution achieve its ambition of becoming one of the leading tax administrations globally.
Earlier, the Chief of Staff to the NRS Chairman, Mr. Tayo Koleosho, said the new tagline was deliberately designed as more than a communications phrase, describing it as an expression of the institution’s identity and the culture it intended to build.
Koleosho said the process that produced the tagline reflected the NRS management philosophy of encouraging ideas from across the organisation rather than imposing institutional decisions from the top.
He likened the structure to an octopus, with multiple arms working towards a common objective.
He said the competition through which the tagline emerged drew ideas from across the service, demonstrating that the new identity was a collective product rather than the creation of a single department.
“A tagline is more than a phrase. It is an expression of all we are, what we stand for and the identity we seek to build together,” Koleosho said.
He said the process also demonstrated the organisation’s ability to adapt, adding that technology had played a central role in enabling staff participation.
According to him, the new identity was not intended to be confined to letterheads, publicity materials or official events, but should translate into the everyday experience of taxpayers dealing with the NRS.
Koleosho said the ultimate test of the tagline would be whether taxpayers experienced greater accessibility and confidence in their interactions with the revenue authority.
“So, from this moment, as we go forward, we want to be the institution that inspires trust in all that we do,” he said.
He added that greater trust would make taxpayers more willing to engage with the authority and disclose their challenges, thereby creating conditions for a healthier relationship between revenue collection and economic expansion.
“We want to tax the food, not the seed as our executive chairman has always noted. We want to grow together. The more you grow, the more the tax authority collects,” Koleosho said.
He said the objective was to create a virtuous cycle in which the expansion of businesses and the wider economy translated into sustainable revenue growth for government.
The Group Director, Transformation and Strategy, NRS, Mr. Alfred Okoh, said the new tagline was also intended to capture the fundamental change in the mandate of the institution following its transition from the former Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to NRS.
Okoh explained that the agency was no longer defined exclusively by tax collection, noting that its expanded mandate also covered non-tax revenues.
He said the change necessitated an institutional identity that reflected a broader revenue-administration responsibility.
“We are now a new revenue administration, and we are not just talking about taxes,” Okoh said.
According to him, the new tagline therefore represented a deliberate departure from a narrowly tax-focused identity towards one centred on revenue administration, institutional trust and economic growth.
He disclosed that the tagline competition attracted 3,308 submissions from staff across the various directorates within six working days after it was opened on August 10.
The submissions were subsequently subjected to a structured selection process based on strategic alignment, originality, clarity and memorability, among other criteria.
Okoh said the entries were reduced from 3,308 to 112, then 85, before seven finalists emerged and were subjected to further consideration that eventually produced the winning tagline.
He stressed that the process was designed to ensure that the new identity reflected the institution’s mission, vision and transformation agenda.
The new identity, he said, must ultimately be demonstrated through the NRS’s conduct rather than merely displayed as corporate messaging.
“What transformation has got to achieve cannot be done by technology alone. Not by any group. Not by a powerful tagline,” Okoh said.
He said the words would only acquire meaning when taxpayers experienced the promise behind them through simpler processes, better use of data, stronger collaboration and more disciplined execution.
Okoh also disclosed that the digital platform used for the competition was designed and built internally, with the ITA-4 team of the service responsible for its development.
He said the in-house execution reinforced the NRS management’s emphasis on building internal capacity rather than relying excessively on external expertise.
He urged staff to see the unveiling as the beginning of a broader cultural change within the organisation.
“When the curtain comes down today, the real work begins,” he said, stressing that the responsibility for making “Inspiring Trust, Sustaining Growth” meaningful now rested with the entire service.