FIRS Warns Staff: Leaking Classified Documents Could Attract N5m Fine, Three-Year Jail Term
FIRS warns staff against leaking confidential records, with offenders facing multi-million naira fines or jail.
The new law, starting 2026, enforces strict secrecy to protect taxpayer data and boost revenue trust.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has cautioned its staff against the unauthorized release of confidential records, warning that offenders risk fines of up to ₦5 million, imprisonment for up to three years, or both.
The measure is contained in the newly enacted Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) Act, one of four tax-related bills signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, alongside the Nigeria Tax (Fair Taxation) Law, the Nigeria Tax Administration Law, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Law. All provisions are set to take effect on January 1, 2026.
Under Part VI of the NRS Act, covering miscellaneous provisions, all internal records, including institutional data, communications, memoranda, and other official documents, are classified as confidential. The law explicitly states that no disclosure is permitted unless authorized by the FIRS Executive Chairman, the service’s management, another relevant law, or a valid agreement.
“Any person who discloses or attempts to disclose institutional information, communication, document or memorandum of the Service is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding ₦5,000,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both,” the provision reads.
The confidentiality rule applies to all FIRS officials and any individual involved in administering the Act. Sensitive business information such as tax returns, notices, assessments, and documents relating to a taxpayer’s assets, liabilities, or profits must also be “treated as secret.”
Exceptions include disclosures authorized by the service, those ordered by a court, or releases necessary for enforcing Nigeria’s tax laws.
This latest directive echoes a February 2024 warning from the federal government cautioning civil servants in ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) against leaking sensitive documents to the public.
