The federal government is planning to roll out tax exemption stickers for small informal businesses — like roadside traders, vulcanisers, and carpenters — to protect them from harassment and multiple levies.
The chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, announced this at the WIMBIZ Annual Conference in Lagos.
He said the move is part of efforts to shield poor and micro-level entrepreneurs from arbitrary taxation.
“If somebody is roasting corn, or fixing tyres by the roadside — those guys are poor. You shouldn’t leave it to a tax officer to decide if they should pay,” Oyedele said.
“We’re planning to give them exemption stickers so they can just live their lives. That’s how direct and practical it is.”
He stressed that the ongoing tax reform is about easing burdens, not adding new ones.
“We have to stop taxing poverty, capital, and investment,” he added.
“That’s why the president said we’ll no longer tax the seed — we’ll wait and tax the fruits.”
