The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has clarified that Nigerian citizens are not required to possess a Tax Identification Number (TIN) to own or operate a bank account, dismissing recent reports suggesting otherwise as inaccurate and misleading.
Arabinrin Aderonke Atoyebi, Technical Assistant on Broadcast Media to the Executive Chairman of FIRS, said the nation’s tax system has been modernised to integrate seamlessly with existing national registries. This ensures that every eligible individual or entity is automatically identifiable for tax purposes.
“The debate that one cannot operate a bank account without a TIN has gained traction in some quarters, but it is not true,” Atoyebi explained.
She emphasized that the TIN remains a statutory tool designed to uniquely verify taxpayers—whether individuals, businesses, or associations—within the national tax ecosystem.
Under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, the FIRS has implemented a National Taxpayer Directory, which issues a 13-digit TIN as a unique identifier. The number encodes critical information such as:
- Year of issuance
- Registry source (National Identification Number for individuals, RC number for corporates)
- State of registration
- A cryptographic fragment for security
- A final check digit for validation
According to Atoyebi, the reform makes Nigeria’s tax administration more efficient, transparent, and secure, while ensuring financial access is not restricted by misinformation.
