Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act 2025

1. Subject to this Act and Section 27 of the Interpretation Act, the Board shall have power to regulate its proceedings and may make standing orders with respect to the holding of its meetings, and those of its committees, notices to be given, the keeping of minutes of its proceedings, the custody and production for inspection of such minutes and such other matters as the Board may, from time to time, determine.

2. There shall be at least three ordinary meetings of the Board in every calendar year and subject thereto, the Board shall meet whenever it is convened by the Chairman, and if the Chairman is requested to do so by notice given by not less than four other members, a meeting of the Board shall be convened within 14 days from the date on which the notice was given.

3. Every meeting of the Board shall be presided over by the Chairman and if the Chairman is unable to attend a particular meeting, the members present at the meeting shall elect one of them to preside over the meeting.

4. The quorum of any meeting of the Board shall be one-third of members including the Chairman of the Board.

5. The Board shall meet for the conduct of its business at such places in Nigeria and on such days as the Chairman may appoint.

6. A question put before the Board at a meeting shall be decided by consensus and where this is not possible, by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting.

7. The Chairman of the Board shall, in the case of an equality of votes, have a casting vote in addition to a deliberative vote.

8. Where the Board seeks the advice of any person on a particular matter, the Board may invite that person to attend for such period as it deems fit, but a person who is invited by virtue of this paragraph shall not be entitled to vote at any meeting of the Board and shall not count towards the quorum.

9. The Board may appoint one or more committees to carry out on behalf of the Board any of its functions as the Board may determine and report on any matter with which the Board is concerned.

10. A committee appointed under paragraph 9 of this Schedule shall be presided over by a member of the Board and shall consist of such number of persons, not necessarily all members of the Board, as may be determined by the Board, and a person other than a member of the Board shall hold office on the committee in accordance with the terms of appointment.

11. A decision of a committee of the Board shall be of no effect until it is confirmed by the Board.

12. Any member of the Board or committee who has a personal interest in any contract or arrangement entered into or proposed to be considered by the Board or any committee shall —
(a) disclose their interest to the Board or committee; and
(b) not vote on any question relating to the contract or arrangement.

13. The fixing of the seal of the Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the Executive Secretary and/or the Chairman of the Board or such other person authorised by the Board to act for that purpose.

14. A contract or an instrument which, if made or executed by any person not being a body corporate, shall not be required to be under seal, may be made or executed on behalf of the Board by the Executive Secretary or by any person generally or specifically authorised to act for that purpose by the Board.

15. A document purporting to be a contract, an instrument or other document signed or sealed on behalf of the Board shall be received in evidence and, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed without further proof, to have been properly signed or sealed.

16. The validity of any proceeding of the Board or its committees shall not be affected by –
(a) any vacancy in the membership of the Board or its committees;
(b)reason that a person not entitled to do so took part in the proceedings; or
(c) any defect in the appointment of a member.

Where in the course of its adjudication, the Tribunal discovers evidence of possible criminality, the Tribunal shall be obliged to pass such information to the appropriate criminal prosecuting authorities, including, the relevant tax authority, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation or the Attorney-General of any state of the Federation or any relevant law enforcement agency for appropriate action.

(1) A taxable person aggrieved by an assessment, demand notice, action, decision of the tax authority, or a dispute as to residency under the provisions of the tax laws, may appeal against such decision or assessment within the period stipulated under this Act to the Tribunal.
(2) An appeal under this Part shall be filed within a period of 30 days from the date on which a copy of the assessment, demand notice, action or decision which is being appealed against is made, or deemed to have been made by the relevant tax authority and it shall be in such form and be accom-panied by such fee as may be prescribed.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, the Tribunal may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period of 30 days if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for the delay.
(4) Where a notice of appeal is not given by the appellant as required under this paragraph within the period specified, the assessment or demand notices shall become final and conclusive and the relevant tax authority may charge interests and penalties in addition to recovering the outstanding tax liabilities which remain unpaid from any person through proceedings at the Tribunal.

A relevant tax authority aggrieved by the non-compliance by a tax-able person in respect of any provision of the tax laws or in respect of any assessment, demand notice, action or decision may appeal to the Tribunal in the Zone where the taxable person is resident giving notice in writing through the Secretary to the Tribunal.

—Where an Appeal is made to the Tribunal in respect of a claim to recover a debt or liquidated money demand and the Appeal is supported by an affidavit setting forth the grounds upon which the claim is based and stating that in the deponent's belief there is no defence, the Tribunal shall, if satisfied that there are good grounds for believing that there is no defence, enter the Appeal for hearing in what shall be called the "Liquidated Money Claim Appeal".

(1) Where an Appeal is before the Tribunal for the first time, the Chairman may grant to the parties time, not exceeding 30 days, within which parties may explore possibilities for settlement of the dispute under the provisions of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act.
(2) Where the parties fail to settle within 30 days or such other period as the Tribunal may grant, the case shall proceed to trial.

The proceedings of the Tribunal and its decisions shall be in compliance with the provisions of the Evidence Act.

(1) Notice of the amount of the tax chargeable under the assessment as determined by the Tribunal shall be served by the relevant tax authority upon the taxpayer or upon the person in whose name the taxpayer is chargeable.
(2) An award or judgement of the Tribunal shall be enforced as if it were a judgement of the Federal High Court upon registration of a copy of such award or judgement with the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court by the party seeking to enforce the award or judgement.

(1) Any person dissatisfied with a decision of the Tribunal constituted under this Act may appeal against such decision on a point of law to the Federal High Court upon giving notice in writing to the Secretary to the Tribunal within 30 days after the date on which such decision was given.
(2) A notice of appeal filed pursuant to subparagraph (1) of this paragraph shall set out the grounds of law on which the appellant's case is based.
(3) Where the relevant tax authority is dissatisfied with the decision of the Tribunal, it may appeal against such decision to the High Court on points of law by giving notice in writing as specified in subparagraph (1) of this paragraph to the Secretary within 30 days after the date on which such decision was given.
(4) On receipt of a notice of appeal under subparagraphs (1) or (3) of this paragraph, the Secretary to the Tribunal shall cause the notice to be given to the Chief Registrar of the High Court along with all the exhibits tendered at the hearing before the Tribunal.
(5) The Chief Judge of the High Court may make rules providing for the procedure in respect of appeals made under this Act and until such rules are made, the High Court rules relating to hearing of appeals shall apply to the hearing of an appeal under this Act.

(1) A complainant or appellant, may either appear in person or authorise one or more legal practitioners, a professional with the requisite knowledge and experience in tax matters or any of its officers to represent him or its case before the Tribunal.
(2) Where the representative in any matter before the Tribunal is unable for good cause to attend hearing, the Tribunal may adjourn the hearing for such reasonable time as it deems fit, or admit the appeal to be made by some other person or by way of a written address.

The provisions of any statute of limitation and pre-action notice under this Act or the provision of the Public Officer Protection Act, shall not apply to any appeal brought before the Tribunal.

(1) The Tribunal may make rules regulating its procedures.
(2) The Tribunal shall, for the purpose of discharging its functions under this Act, have power to –
(a) summon and enforce the attendance of any person and examine him on oath;
(b) require the discovery and production of documents;
(c) receive evidence on affidavits;
(d) call for the examination of witnesses or documents;
(e) review its decisions;
(f) dismiss an application for default or deciding matters exparte;
(g) set aside any order or dismissal of any application for default or any order made by it, exparte; and
(h) do anything which in the opinion of the Tribunal is incidental to its functions under this Act.

An appeal against the decision of the Federal High Court at the instance of either party shall lie to the Court of Appeal.

(1) The provision of section 59 and the Fifth Schedule of the Fed-eral Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2007, is repealed.
(2) The Tribunal established under this Act, shall continue to hear and conclude any proceeding commenced before the coming into effect of this Act, as if they were commenced under this Act.
(3) The Chairman and the other members of the Tribunal appointed before the commencement of this Act shall continue to hold office for the unex-pired duration of their term as if they have been appointed under this Act.
(4) The Secretary and other staff serving the Tribunal before commence-ment of this Act shall continue to hold office and under the same terms and conditions.
(5) The administration and control of all rights, obligations and liabilities of the Tax Appeal Tribunal repealed under subsection (1) are transferred to the Tribunal established under this Act.
(6) The administration of any real property that were immediately before the coming into force of this Act under the responsibility of the Tax Appeal Tribunal are transferred to the Tribunal established under this Act.

(1) A person may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Tax Ombud, in writing or through any other means or platform, as may be provided by the Office of the Tax Ombud.
(2) A complainant shall only lodge a complaint with the Office of the Tax Ombud, if the issue is unresolved by the relevant agencies.
(3) The Tax Ombud shall review and assess the complaint to determine whether it falls within its jurisdiction and mandate.
(4) The Office of the Tax Ombud shall not entertain anonymous com-plaints.
(5) Where the Office of the Tax Ombud finds a complaint to be false or misleading in any material respect, it may strike out or disregard such complaint.
(6) Where a complaint relates to malicious misrepresentation of facts of a criminal nature, the matter shall be referred to the relevant law enforcement agency for further investigation and possible prosecution.

(1) The Office of the Tax Ombud shall initiate an investigation by –
(a)engaging the complainant, the officer or the relevant revenue or government agency to acquire additional information and evidence; and
(b)conducting site visits, interviews or inspections.
(2) An investigation under this section shall be conducted within 14 days of receipt of the complaint, provided that the Office of the Tax Ombud may, where necessary, extend the period of an investigation by seven days.
(3) The conduct of an investigation shall not affect any action taken or to be taken by the relevant revenue or government agency.
(4) Where the Office of the Tax Ombud decides not to conduct an investigation, a statement of the reasons for not conducting the investigation shall be communicated to the complainant within seven days of receipt of the complaint.

(1) The Office of the Tax Ombud may resolve a complaint by making recommendations to the relevant revenue or government agency or the complainant.
(2) Where the Office of the Tax Ombud is of the opinion that the complaint amounts to abuse of office or breach of procedure, it shall communicate its recommendations to the relevant tax authority or the persons concerned within a period of 14 days after determination of the complaint.
(3) Where the Office of the Tax Ombud has reason to believe that a relevant revenue or government agency has acted beyond the scope of authority or in a manner warranting criminal proceedings against such an officer, the matter shall be referred to the relevant revenue or government agency authority for necessary action, provided that where the relevant tax authority fails to take appropriate action in respect of the allegations within 30 days, the Office of the Tax Ombud shall refer the matter to the relevant law enforcement agency for necessary action.

(1) The relevant revenue or government agency shall report to the Office of the Tax Ombud within 21 days of receiving its recommendations stating reasons for non-compliance with the recommendations of the Office of the Tax Ombud.
(2) Where a relevant revenue or government agency fails to implement a recommendation, without providing satisfactory reasons for non-compliance, the Office of the Tax Ombud shall refer the matter to the National Assembly or the State House of Assembly to perform its oversight functions over such recommendation.

(1) The Office of the Tax Ombud may encourage parties to explore alternative dispute resolution mechanisms with respect to the complaint lodged before it.
(2) The representative of the relevant revenue or government agency, its officers or the complainant shall —
(a) appear before the Tax Ombud when requested to do so;
(b) not take any step which will impede or will be capable of obstructing the Office of the Tax Ombud in the performance of its functions; or
(c)not take any action which tends to prejudice or undermine a matter before the Office of the Tax Ombud.
(3) Where a party to the issue fails to comply with the provisions of subparagraph (2), the complaint shall be deemed to be resolved against such party.




I certify, in accordance with section 2 (1) of the Acts authentication Act, Cap. A2, Laws of Federal of Nigeria 2004, that this is a true copy of the Bill passed by both Houses of the National Assembly.


                        KAMORU OGUNLANA ESQ.
                        Clerk to the National Assembly
                        11th Day of June, 2025.






              EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
This Act establishes the Joint Revenue Board, the Tax Appeal Tribunal and the Office of the Tax Ombuds, for the harmonisation, coordination and settlement of disputes arising from revenue administration in Nigeria.