Nigerian president signs major tax overhaul

Abuja: Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday signed four landmark bills into law aiming to overhaul the country s tax system, after backing away...

Abuja: Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday signed four landmark bills into law aiming to overhaul the country's tax system, after backing away from more controversial tweaks that would have upended revenue sharing among states.

The west African economic powerhouse has a tax-to-GDP ratio of 13.5 percent, according to government figures, which is below the continental average.

The country, split among 36 states, has long struggled to reform its tax system -- with the government saying its new package will "harmonise" levies across the nation.

"For too long, our tax system has been a patchwork-complex, inequitable, and burdensome," Tinubu said on social media ahead of the signing, promising relief for poor and working-class Nigerians.

The president's earlier reforms -- slashing a costly fuel subsidy and liberalising the naira exchange rate -- have won the praise of economists, saying such measures were long overdue. But they've also sparked massive inflation and a cost of living crisis.