Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State and Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal have adopted the new tax reforms with alacrity, domesticating the four tax acts to expunge outdated laws that, they said, harmed small business owners. 

The nationwide enforcement of the contentious tax laws is January 1.

Zamfara became the second of 36 states to adopt the law after Ekiti, followed by Anambra, in a move that signalled the states’ eagerness to align with President Bola Tinubu’s revenue-collection agenda.

Messrs Soludo and Lawal said early implementation of the tax laws will benefit small and medium-scale entrepreneurs, who have long been forced to pay multiple and overlapping charges.

“By aligning approved taxes and levies within the national tax reforms framework, the States have taken a major step toward eliminating multiple and overlapping charges that had imposed undue strain on citizens and businesses alike,” the statement announcing the tax enforcement said on Monday.

The “pro-people” reforms were expected to replace  “fragmented and outdated revenue practices,” that enabled decades of multiple taxation and arbitrary collections, leaving many business owners struggling to survive. 

Both governors assured the new tax laws will boost confidence in the government, attract investors and overall create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive

“It also creates a more predictable operating environment for commerce and investment, particularly for small and medium-scale enterprises that are often most affected by informal levies and enforcement abuses at the sub-national level,” the statement added.

Anambra and Zamfara governors noted that their colleagues in Lagos, Katsina and Bauchi were also in advanced stages of adopting Mr Tinubu’s tax reforms.

Last week, the National Assembly expunged the forged gazetted tax laws and instructed the Clerk of the House to re-gazette the laws to what was originally approved by lawmakers.