Two official versions of the same law rarely disagree. This year, they did.
What the dispute is about
Soon after the Nigeria Tax Act and its companion Acts were gazetted, lawmakers in the National Assembly said the published text did not fully match what had actually been passed. The National Assembly ordered the Acts re-gazetted and issued certified true copies.
That is an unusual position for a piece of legislation to be in: signed, in force, and still disputed at the level of which printed version is the accurate one.
The turnover figure at the centre of it
The clearest example sits in the small-company exemption. The gazetted Nigeria Tax Act sets the turnover cap for a small company at ₦50 million. The National Assembly's own certified copy reportedly sets the same cap at ₦100 million.
That is not a rounding difference. A company with a turnover between the two figures gets a different answer to "am I exempt from company income tax" depending on which text is treated as authoritative. Our full look at the small-company exemption covers what else is affected by the same conflict.
What the National Assembly did
Rather than leave two versions circulating, the National Assembly ordered the Acts re-gazetted and issued its own certified true copies, dated 4 Jan 2026.
Issuing a certified copy is a formal step, not a press statement. It is the legislature's way of putting its own version of the text on record as the one it says it actually passed.
What the NRS says it will follow
Despite the certified copies, Dr Zacch Adedeji, the NRS Chairman, has said publicly that the NRS applies the gazetted law as published, not the National Assembly's certified alternative.
That leaves taxpayers in an uncomfortable middle. The body that assesses and collects tax says one text governs. The body that passed the law says another one does.
What this means for you right now
For day-to-day compliance, follow the gazetted figures, since that is what the NRS has said it will use in practice. Where a specific figure could go either way for your business, such as the small-company turnover test, treat it as a genuine open question rather than a settled one.
This is exactly the kind of judgement call worth taking to an accountant rather than resolving from a blog post. The facts here describe a real, unresolved conflict between two official texts, not a simple error with an obvious correct answer.
Why this kind of dispute is unusual
Most tax law changes generate disagreement over policy, whether a rate is too high or an exemption too narrow. This dispute is different in kind. It is not about whether the small-company threshold should be ₦50 million or ₦100 million as a policy choice. It is about which document correctly records what lawmakers actually voted for.
That distinction is part of why it has taken time to settle. Resolving a policy disagreement is a matter of debate and amendment. Resolving a documentation dispute means establishing, with certainty, which paper trail is accurate.
What to watch for next
A dispute over which text is authoritative for a signed law does not usually stay unresolved indefinitely. Whether that comes through a further amendment, a court ruling or another National Assembly step, our Nigeria Tax Act explainer and the NRS and Rev360 hub are where we will reflect any resolution once one is confirmed.