Workers in the informal sector under the aegis of the Federation of Informal Workers Organisation of Nigeria (FIWON) have expressed concerns about the new tax policy.

They urged the Federal Government to address the issue of formalising tax collection in their sector. FIWON alleged that the new tax regime that began implementation on January 1, 2026, might be a new layer of taxation in addition to the already existing layers of extortion, which the government has done nothing to address.

General Secretary of FIWON, Gbenga Komolafe, in a statement, said that given the visibility and ubiquity of informal work, informal operators are rather overtaxed.

Giving instances from commercial transport operators in Lagos, he estimated that not less than N130 billion to N300 billion is extorted from the categories of informal operators in Lagos State yearly.

“It has been documented that apart from paying outrageous amounts to renew licenses every year, they also have to pay for hackney permits and more obnoxiously, have to pay extortionist amounts to agberos daily. It has been variously estimated that at least 130 billion naira to 300 billion naira is extorted from these categories of informal operators in Lagos State alone every year,” he said.

He further alleged: “We can talk about street vendors and market women among others, all of whom are also exposed to these obnoxious extortions.

Different levels and departments of government, such as the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Commerce, and the local government, among others, also collect different forms of taxes and levies, most of which are not properly accounted for.”

With the enforcement of the new tax laws, Komolafe urged that the taxes and levies on informal operators by all levels and departments of government should be harmonised into a one-stop structure of collection, while proper records and certifications are issued.