Technology crucial to success of new tax laws – NRS boss

Mariam Abeeb

The Executive Chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS), Dr Zacch Adedeji, says technology is a crucial factor in the implementation of Nigeria’s new tax laws.
Adedeji said this while delivering the maiden convocation lecture of the Federal Polytechnic, Ayede, Ogo-Oluwa Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According a statement by his Technical Assistant on Print Media, Sikiru Akinola, the NRS boss listed some of the most fundamental challenges confronting taxation to include infrastructure, skills, trust and resistance.
The title of his lecture was, ‘The Role of Technology in Implementing Nigeria’s New Tax Laws: Challenges, Prospects, and Implications for National Development’.
He said that each of these challenges would be addressed with the imminent upgrading of the country’s tax system for a digital environment.
“Nigeria has recently enacted a new set of tax laws, representing the most significant restructuring of our nation’s fiscal legislation in 50 years.
“While public conversation often frames these changes as legal reforms, and that is true, it is also an incomplete picture.
“These laws are not merely changing rates, definitions, or administrative powers. They are quietly redefining how authority operates within the tax system,” he said.
Adedeji described the enactment of the laws as a complete structural overhaul, signaling the end of tax collection as a manual task and the beginning of tax intelligence.
“If you read the new laws carefully, you will notice a subtle but profound assumption woven throughout their fabric.
“They presuppose the existence of reliable taxpayer identification, integrated data across institutions, traceable transactions, automated processes, and scalable enforcement.
“In other words, these laws are built for a digital environment. They can not function properly in a manual, fragmented, paper-based system,’ ‘ he said.
According to him, the implication is clear: without technology, the laws remain aspirational. With technology, they become operational.
Adedeji said that the transition was central to the mandate of the NRS as it implements this new legal framework.
“Historically, tax administration relied heavily on human discretion over who is registered, who is assessed, who is audited, and who is penalised.
“While discretion is not inherently evil, excessive discretion creates inconsistency, which in turn breeds mistrust and drives non-compliance,” he said.
“When infrastructure improves, capacity grows, trust is protected, and resistance is managed just as technology begins to do what policy alone can not,” he said.
He further said that one of the most important prospects of a technology-driven tax administration was the ability to expand the tax base without increasing tax rates.
According to him, this matters deeply in a society where citizens already feel overburdened.
“By improving visibility and bringing previously unseen economic activity into view, technology levels the playing field.
“When compliance broadens, the pressure on the existing base reduces, fairness improves, and legitimacy grows.
This is how modern tax systems grow revenue sustainably,’’ Adedeji said.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr Tajudeen Abass, encouraged the graduating students to be good ambassadors of the institution.
Represented by AbdulFatai Buhari, Senator representing Oyo North, Abass urged them not to relent in their bid to acquire more knowledge.
He commended the tax boss for leading the change in tax administration in the country.
The institution’s governing council chair, Yakubu Datti, commended Adedeji for leading the re-engineering of Nigeria’s tax architecture.