{"id":675270,"date":"2026-01-05T11:13:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T11:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/675270\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T11:13:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T11:13:18","slug":"new-healthcare-tax-in-nigeria-to-increase-medical-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/675270\/","title":{"rendered":"New Healthcare Tax in Nigeria to Increase Medical Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The<\/strong> Nigerian Medical Association and the Guild of Medical Directors have warned that the newly introduced tax laws will increase the cost of healthcare services across the country.\n<\/p>\n

The laws took effect on January 1 despite calls for a suspension amid controversies surrounding their implementation.\n<\/p>\n

They were enacted through a harmonised set of tax bills passed by both chambers of the National Assembly in 2025 and subsequently transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent.\n<\/p>\n

Speaking on the new tax regime, NMA President Bala Audu said it could exacerbate the economic hardship facing Nigerians and reduce their ability to afford essential services.<\/p>\n

He noted that the ripple effects of the tax laws would affect multiple sectors, citing warnings from the aviation industry that airfares could rise to as much as N1m.\n<\/p>\n

Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, Audu said, \u201cIncreased taxation will make families poorer, raise school fees, and ultimately push healthcare costs beyond the reach of many Nigerians.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government owes citizens the responsibility of looking at how this law affects their well-being. While taxes are meant to improve society, policies that negatively affect citizens\u2019 welfare should be carefully reviewed to avoid social unrest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Similarly, GMDs President, Dr Raymond Kuti, said hospitals in the country were already burdened with multiple taxes, stressing that the new law would worsen the situation.\n<\/p>\n

He said health institutions were overtaxed, adding that an average hospital paid numerous levies annually, including annual returns, Federal Inland Revenue Service taxes, Pay-As-You-Earn, land use charges, signboard fees, vehicle and ambulance levies, and annual registration fees. <\/p>\n

\u201cHospitals currently pay close to 10 different taxes every year, in addition to bank charges on transactions, a situation that is overwhelming,\u201d Kuti said.\n<\/p>\n

He warned that additional burden would ultimately be transferred to patients, noting that most Nigerians could not afford out-of-pocket healthcare payments.\n<\/p>\n

Kuti also lamented the absence of incentives for private healthcare providers.\n<\/p>\n

He called for a roundtable discussion to examine the implications of the new tax law before full implementation.\n<\/p>\n

Renowned constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, described the reforms as ambitious and far-reaching but warned that unresolved legislative inconsistencies could undermine their effectiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniform legislative imprimatur is essential to reconcile any perceived differences between what was proposed, passed, and signed. The government must proceed cautiously and address all legitimate concerns,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

Governance advocate, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, faulted the government for insufficient public engagement, saying, \u201cPolicies without public support or transparency are anti-democratic and veer towards authoritarianism.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, slammed the tax system as unfair, claiming it targets the poor while shielding the wealthy.\n<\/p>\n

In a statement on social media, Obi called for transparency, fairness, and policies prioritising citizens\u2019 welfare.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nigerian Medical Association and the Guild of Medical Directors have warned that the newly introduced tax laws…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[105,4348,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-675270","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115842200948453282","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}