The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has projected a revenue target of N40.71 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year, signalling a push to shore up public finances. This target represents a 44 percent increase over the N28.3 trillion collected in 2025.
Amina Ado Kurawa, Executive Director of the Government & Large Taxpayers Department, NRS, disclosed this target at the agency’s leadership retreat in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to Kurawa, the transition from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has expanded the agency’s mandate, adding that the Service is now responsible for collecting royalties in the oil and gas industry—a function formerly managed by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
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She explained that non-oil revenues are expected to increase by 37.9 percent in 2026, reaching a total of N24.836 trillion, supported by steady growth in major tax sectors. She also explained that N12.4 trillion is expected to come from Company Income Tax (CIT), N9.9 trillion from Value Added Tax (VAT), and N1.9 trillion from Development Levy.
“Revenue has increased significantly between 2021 and 2025 collections, reflecting sustained upward momentum. Year-on-year growth has stayed positive, with sharp accelerations in 2021-22 and 2023-24.
“Achieving the 2026 forecast will require enhanced enforcement, expanded compliance efforts, and continued operational excellence under the NRS. Now, importantly, for 2026, is that we are transitioning to NRS with an expanded mandate. And as you are all aware, we are now responsible for petroleum, oil and gas royalties, and also mineral royalties.
“We worked tirelessly since last year to commence this, and we were able to successfully collect royalties in January, and in fact, this week, there is another deadline,” Kurawa said.
To achieve the 2026 revenue target, Kurawa said that the Service will ensure automation of assessments of petroleum profit tax /Hydrocarbon tax, royalty filings and payments; Continuous stakeholder engagements on new tax laws; Regulations, guidelines and circulars on new tax laws to improve compliance.
Other steps to be taken by the Service include: aggressive efforts with sub-national entities and FG MDAs to remit VAT/WHT deductions; planned actions to improve filing and payment compliance, audit quality within the timeframe as well as improved analytics to take advantage of data from e-invoicing, government contracts, and other sources.
Speaking further, Kurawa said that implementation of the new tax laws has begun in earnest, disclosing that the Service recorded over 9,000 new taxpayers in January.
She said that for individuals, tax changes are already being seen in January salaries, adding that while some people paid less tax, others paid a bit more, depending on their earnings.
“I’m happy to say that we have seen taxpayers have begun filing under the new law. More than 9,000 taxpayers whom have already joined filing, have taken advantage of the reforms that will enable small businesses to actually thrive going forward.
“The government has promised that small businesses will be allowed to at least have some breathing space. And some of us, we know, in January, when we were paid our salaries, we paid a little bit less tax, and some of us paid a little bit more, depending on our earnings, and so these reforms have already started.”
Also commenting on the target, Zacch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of NRS said that this new target creates an opportunity for the government to serve the citizens more.
“And that is why you see our name is Nigeria Revenue Service, not authority. So we are here, and our focus is to tax prosperity, not poverty; our focus is to make sure that businesses do well because it is in their doing well that we can carryout our duties.
“The change from FIRS to NRS is a total institutional upgrade, so Nigerians should expect that we will serve them more,” he said.
Addressing the participants in the retreat, Adedeji said that the birth of the NRS marks a clear break from the past and represents a new era which will only be secured by individual capacity to adapt, to stretch, and to lead at a level of excellence.
“This transition will not be secured by the weight of our positions, the strength of our resume, or the familiarity of our structure. It will only be secured by our capacity to adapt, to stretch, and to lead at a level of excellence that this country now requires of us. What brought us here will not be sufficient for where we are going.”
Also speaking at the event, Wale Edun, Nigeria’s minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, urged participants to promote consumption of Nigerian-made items to avoid the continued exportation of jobs and revenues to other countries.
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Edun explained that developing countries and poor countries paid a total sum of $163 billion as debt service in 2024, while the overseas development assistance and foreign direct investments that came in for these countries were $42 billion and $97 billion, respectively.
“So when you add $97 billion plus $42 billion, and then you look at $163 billion, you can see that as developing countries and the flow of funding, we are giving more out than we are getting in through these various categories. So clearly, it is what we do for ourselves internally that is going to be important at this time.
“And the primary anchor of our fiscal sustainability, just like for other countries, it’s not just Nigeria, all countries that find themselves in the kind of position we’re in, it is going to be our own fiscal efforts, our own ability to generate savings, which then can be used for investment.
“And before you can generate savings, you have to have the revenue, which is where you come in, and that is the reality of this day,” Edun said.
He explained that economic conditions such as this created the need for the introduction of several economic reforms, including the Nigerian tax laws, by President Tinubu’s administration.
For him, the tax reform is wide-ranging, looking to add fairness, equity, efficiency, and increase resources for government, for social spending, for infrastructure spending, for all the things that will yield long-term stability, as well as relieve the economic pressures.
