Commercial sex workers will pay tax in 2026 – FG
Taiwo Oyedele
… taxation will be dependent on income generation.
Federal Government has said that commercial sex workers ( runs girls ) will pay tax under the new laws.
Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, made the statement during a tax education session held by the The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), City of David, Lagos.
In a video that has since circulated widely, Oyedele explained that gifts or upkeep money sent to dependents or relatives are exempt from tax, describing such transfers as “non-exchange transactions.”
He stated, “You earn a certain amount of money and you have to send upkeep to your cousin, your brother, even a stranger, it doesn’t really matter.
If the amount you’re sending to someone is money you are giving to them as a gift, that’s not taxable. It is you who should have paid tax before giving them a gift.”
However, he emphasised that payment received for providing a service or product is subject to taxation, regardless of the legality or legitimacy of the activity.
Oyedele said, “If somebody is doing runs girls, right, they go and look for men to sleep with, you know that’s a service, they will pay tax on it.
One thing about the tax law is that it does not distinguish between whether what you are doing is legitimate or not. It just asks you whether you have an income.
Did you get it from rendering a service or providing a good? You pay tax.”
The tax reforms, enacted in June and set to take effect from January 1, 2026, consolidate existing legislation into a single framework aimed at simplifying compliance and broadening the revenue base.
Oyedele described the reforms as sweeping, affecting individuals, business owners, employees, and civil servants, and said that while more than 200 significant changes are included in the legislation, the law applies uniformly to all sources of income.
“The starting point for me is always to give context,” Oyedele said, using the parable of a blind man and an elephant to illustrate the risk of focusing on only one aspect of the reforms.
“Depending on the side of the elephant that they touched, they concluded what it was, maybe a fan, a wall, or a tree. But none of them got the right answer because they didn’t feel the big picture.”
Oyedele further stated that the reforms also cover social media influencers and remote workers earning income in foreign currency.
“One thing I can tell you is that the tax reforms enacted into law a few months ago, which will take effect from January next year, are the most transformative, most significant in our nation’s history,” he said.
Oyedele urged Nigerians to understand the broader scope of the tax reforms rather than focusing narrowly on isolated examples.
“If someone is rendering a service, such a person will pay tax,” he said, underscoring the government’s position that taxation is tied to income generation rather than the perceived legitimacy of the activity.
