Bank customers must submit tax ID to operate accounts – Oyedele

Nigerian banks will be obligated to request Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) from all taxable individuals and businesses before allowing full account operations starting from January 1, 2026.

Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this in a video posted on X on Thursday.

The directive, outlined in Section 4 of the newly enacted Nigerian Tax Administration Act (NTAA), targets “taxable persons” – defined as anyone engaged in trade, business, or economic activities generating income – to streamline tax compliance and curb evasion.

Oyedele emphasised that the measure builds on provisions from the 2020 Finance Act but gained stronger enforcement through the NTAA, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in June 2025.

He noted that the requirement does not apply to students or dependents, who will be exempted from needing a tax ID to maintain a bank account.

He clarified that income earners and businesses already issued TINs would not need to obtain new tax IDs.

He said, “A section of the NTAA requires a taxable person to register and obtain a tax ID.

“A taxable person is anyone who earns income through trade, business, or any economic activity. So banks must request a tax ID from taxable persons. This means that individuals who do not earn an income, such as students and dependents, do not need to obtain a tax ID.

“Any taxable entity without a tax ID may have difficulty running their bank account in the near future.”