The Federal Government has clarified that all income earned in Nigeria, including money made by commercial sex workers, popularly referred to as “runs girls,” is taxable under the law.
Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, made the statement during a tax education session held by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), City of David, Lagos.
In a video that has since circulated widely, Oyedele explained that gifts or upkeep money sent to dependents or relatives are exempt from tax, describing such transfers as “non-exchange transactions.”
He stated, “You earn a certain amount of money and you have to send upkeep to your cousin, your brother, even a stranger, it doesn’t really matter. If the amount you’re sending to someone is money you are giving to them as a gift, that’s not taxable. It is you that should have paid tax before giving them a gift.”
However, he emphasised that payment received for providing a service or product is subject to taxation, regardless of the legality or legitimacy of the activity.
Oyedele said, “If somebody is doing runs girls, right, they go and look for men to sleep with, you know that’s a service, they will pay tax on it. One thing about the tax law is it does not separate between whether what you are doing is legitimate or not. It just asks you whether you have an income. Did you get it from rendering a service or providing a good? You pay tax.”
The tax reforms, enacted in June and set to take effect from January 1, 2026, consolidate existing legislation into a single framework aimed at simplifying compliance and broadening the revenue base.
Oyedele described the reforms as sweeping, affecting individuals, business owners, employees, and civil servants, and said that while more than 200 significant changes are included in the legislation, the law applies uniformly to all sources of income.
“The starting point for me is always to give context,” Oyedele said, using the parable of a blind man and an elephant to illustrate the risk of focusing on only one aspect of the reforms.
“Depending on the side of the elephant that they touched, they concluded what it was, maybe a fan, a wall, or a tree. But none of them got the right answer because they didn’t feel the big picture.”
Oyedele further stated that the reforms also cover social media influencers and remote workers earning income in foreign currency.
“One thing I can tell you is that the tax reforms enacted into law a few months ago, which will take effect from January next year, is the most transformative, most significant in our nation’s history,” he said.
The disclosure comes amid growing attention to the economic scale of the commercial sex industry in Nigeria. The Guardian reports that in 2024, a report confirmed that men in Lagos spent an estimated N661 billion on transactional sex, with N329 billion paid directly to sex workers and the remainder covering associated costs such as entertainment, food, and hospitality.
The survey also highlighted that sex workers contributed to family upkeep, health, education, and investment in small businesses.
Oyedele urged Nigerians to understand the broader scope of the tax reforms rather than focusing narrowly on isolated examples. “If someone is rendering a service, such a person will pay tax,” he said, underscoring the government’s position that taxation is tied to income generation rather than the perceived legitimacy of the activity.
