Nigeria’s fiscal deficit is putting pressure on tax authorities to expand the country’s narrow revenue base, with freelancers, influencers and online vendors emerging as a new frontier in the government’s mobilisation drive.
With fiscal deficit projected to reach N23.85 trillion in the 2026 budget, and the newly reconstituted Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) revenue target of N40.71 trillion for 2026, the revenue authorities are under pressure to raise collections without significantly increasing rates and improve compliance among self-employed earners.
“The digital economy has grown rapidly while remaining largely untaxed; this reform closes that gap and captures a fast-expanding revenue base without raising rates on traditional sectors”, said Onyinye Afolabi, a principal consultant at Techpoint finance
