Nigerian Revenue Service Wants Its Cut in Crypto, Not Just Naira 🪙

Nigeria's Revenue Service has released guidelines requiring crypto exchanges and peer-to-peer marketplaces to withhold tax at the source, with some of those remittances to be paid directly in the digital tokens that originated each transaction. The Guidelines on Taxation of Virtual Assets, issued by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), state that income tax deducted at source and stamp duty "shall be remitted to the Service in the originating token of the transaction." Value-added tax, by comparison, must be remitted in the currency used for the underlying payment.

The framework puts exchanges and peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplaces at the center of withholding, reporting and remittance under existing law. Platforms must withhold 1% of proceeds from taxable disposals of crypto assets, security tokens and applicable non-fungible tokens, while a 10% withholding rate applies to staking, mining, airdrops and decentralized finance activities. Token-to-fiat and fiat-to-token transfers are subject to a 1.5% stamp duty. The withheld amounts are treated as advance payments credited against the taxpayer's final income tax liability. Individuals are taxed at progressive rates, and companies other than small companies face a 30% rate. Sales of stablecoins are exempt from the 1% withholding tax.

The rules follow an executive order signed by President Bola Tinubu that created a Virtual Asset Council chaired by the central bank, with the NRS and the Securities and Exchange Commission as vice chairs. On July 18, the presidency said the NRS would release a policy to implement Nigeria's tax laws for virtual assets, building on a broader tax overhaul that took effect on Jan. 1 under the Nigeria Tax Act and Nigeria Tax Administration Act of 2025. That legislation treats digital assets as chargeable assets and requires virtual asset service providers to report transaction details, including customers' names, contact information and Tax Identification Numbers.

Nigeria first explicitly subjected gains from crypto disposals to tax through the Finance Act 2023, which imposed a flat 10% capital gains tax. The 2025 framework replaced that treatment, and the new guidelines specify how gains are valued and how taxes are withheld, remitted and reconciled for transactions denominated in assets such as $BTC and $ETH.