Nigeria orders crypto platforms to collect and remit taxes

The Nigeria Revenue Service issued Guidelines on Taxation of Virtual Assets requiring crypto exchanges and peer-to-peer marketplaces to collect, report and remit taxes on virtual asset transactions. Income tax deducted at source and stamp duty must be remitted to the revenue service in the originating token of each transaction, while value-added tax must be remitted in the currency used for payment.

The guidelines require platforms to withhold 1% of proceeds from taxable disposals of crypto assets, security tokens and applicable non-fungible tokens. A 10% withholding rate applies to staking, mining, airdrops and decentralized finance activities. Token-to-fiat and fiat-to-token transfers carry a 1.5% stamp duty. The withheld sums will be treated as advance payments and credited against a taxpayer’s final income tax liability.

Exchanges and peer-to-peer marketplaces are tasked with withholding, reporting and remitting under existing tax law. Virtual asset service providers must report transaction details to the tax authority, including customers’ names, contact information and Tax Identification Numbers, and reconcile withheld amounts with taxpayers’ filings.

Tax rates remain set by Nigeria’s broader tax framework: individuals face progressive rates and companies other than small companies are subject to a 30% corporate rate. The guidelines exempt stablecoin sales from the 1% withholding applied to disposals of other crypto assets.

The guidance follows an executive order by President Bola Tinubu that established a Virtual Asset Council chaired by the central bank, with the Nigeria Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission as vice chairs. The Nigeria Tax Act and the Nigeria Tax Administration Act of 2025, effective Jan. 1, treat digital assets as chargeable assets and require virtual asset service providers to report transaction data.

The Finance Act 2023 had imposed a flat 10% capital gains tax on crypto gains; the 2025 framework replaced that approach and the NRS guidelines set out valuation methods, withholding rates, remittance procedures and reconciliation requirements for virtual asset transactions.