Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest cryptocurrency markets, with an estimated $92.1 billion in on-chain transaction volume recorded between July 2024 and June 2025.
Following years of regulatory ambiguity, the Nigerian government moved decisively to formalise the tax treatment of digital assets in 2025. The Nigerian Tax Act and the Nigerian Tax Administration Act (NTAA) 2025 were signed into law on 26 June 2025, establishing a clear framework that classifies gains from crypto transactions as chargeable income subject to personal and corporate income tax.
Under the new regime, profits from the sale or liquidation of a digital asset are treated as income rather than capital gains.
This represents a significant departure from the 10% capital gains tax that had been applied to digital assets under the Finance Act 2022. Individual investors now pay personal income tax on crypto profits at rates up to 25%, while Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) are subject to a 30% corporate income tax on their operating profits, primarily earned through transaction fees.
Capital Gains Tax Rules
Prior to the passage of the Nigerian Tax Act 2025, digital assets were subject to a 10% capital gains tax under the Finance Act 2022.
The new legislation has replaced this with a framework that routes crypto profits through the income tax system. Gains from the disposal, exchange, or liquidation of a digital asset are now treated as chargeable income and assessed accordingly.
For individuals, the applicable rate is personal income tax of up to 25% on profits made.
How gains are calculated
The taxable amount is the profit realised: the proceeds of the disposal minus the cost of acquisition.
The regime is explicitly profit-based, meaning that a taxpayer who disposes of crypto at a loss does not incur a tax liability on that transaction. The new law does not specify a particular cost basis method such as FIFO or average cost; taxpayers are expected to maintain records of acquisition costs and use them to calculate net gains. Transaction fees paid as part of the acquisition or disposal may be included in the cost base or deducted from proceeds where properly documented.
Losses and treatment of complex instruments
The Nigerian Tax Act 2025 does not explicitly address the treatment of losses from crypto disposals in terms of offsetting against other income, nor does it clearly cover gains from crypto-based investment vehicles such as derivatives or exchange-traded funds referencing digital assets.
Some of these may be captured indirectly by existing capital gains and withholding tax provisions.
As of 2026, Nigeria has not issued detailed supplementary guidance on these matters, and taxpayers with complex portfolios should seek advice from a qualified Nigerian tax professional.
Record keeping
Taxpayers must maintain records sufficient to demonstrate the acquisition cost and disposal value of each digital asset transaction. Relevant documentation includes exchange transaction histories, wallet records, contract notes, and any bank transfer records showing funds sent to or received from crypto platforms.
Income Tax Rules
Under the Nigerian Tax Act 2025, profits from digital asset transactions are assessed as ordinary income rather than capital gains.
For individual taxpayers, personal income tax applies to chargeable gains at rates up to 25%. This brings crypto profits into the same treatment as other forms of income subject to the personal income tax schedule, with the rate determined by the taxpayer’s total income for the year.
Crypto received as payment for goods or services is also subject to income tax.
Where an employer pays remuneration wholly or partly in cryptocurrency, the value of the crypto at the time of receipt is included in employment income and taxed at the employee’s applicable marginal rate. Similarly, income earned from providing services and receiving crypto as consideration is treated as business or professional income assessable under the standard income tax framework.
The NTAA 2025 requires VASPs to act as withholding agents in certain circumstances, deducting applicable taxes at source and remitting them to the FIRS. This mechanism is intended to reduce the scope for tax evasion through self-reporting alone, which has historically been a weakness of the Nigerian system.
As of 2026, the detailed operational rules governing withholding by VASPs are still being developed through implementing regulations.
Mining and Staking Treatment
Mining
The Nigerian Tax Act 2025 does not contain a dedicated provision addressing cryptocurrency mining.
Under the general framework, the proceeds of mining activity are treated as income from a trade or business where carried out at a commercial scale, making them subject to income tax. The fair market value of mined coins in naira at the date of receipt is the figure included in assessable income. Expenses directly related to the mining operation, such as hardware and electricity costs, may be deductible as business expenses where properly documented.
As of 2026, Nigeria has not issued specific guidance distinguishing between hobby mining and commercial mining for tax purposes.
The distinction will likely be determined by reference to the general principles applied to self-employment activity: the regularity of the operation, the presence of a profit motive, the scale of the enterprise, and the extent to which it is carried out in a businesslike manner. Individual miners who operate at a small, occasional scale may be in a different position to those running dedicated mining rigs, but formal clarification has not been published.
Staking
As with mining, staking rewards are not specifically addressed in the Nigerian Tax Act 2025 or accompanying guidance as of 2026.
The general principle that profits and income from digital assets are chargeable income suggests that rewards received from staking, whether from proof-of-stake validation or delegated staking arrangements, would be included in income at their naira value on the date of receipt.
The subsequent disposal of staked assets, or any tokens received as staking rewards, would constitute a further chargeable event at the point of sale or exchange. Taxpayers participating in staking activities should document the date and value of all rewards received and maintain records of subsequent disposals.
NFT Taxation
The Nigerian Tax Act 2025 classifies all digital assets under its broad definition, which encompasses digital representations of value or rights that can be transferred or stored electronically, NFTs fall within this definition.
Profits from the sale of NFTs held as investments are therefore subject to income tax on the gain realised, calculated as the sale price minus the acquisition cost, at personal income tax rates up to 25%.
For creators who mint and sell NFTs commercially, the income from NFT sales constitutes business income taxable under the general income tax framework. The cost of creating NFTs, including platform fees and the cost of underlying digital content, may be deductible as business expenses. Where NFT sales are made through platforms that qualify as VASPs under Nigerian law, those platforms may be subject to reporting obligations in respect of the transactions.
As of 2026, Nigeria has not issued specific guidance addressing VAT or consumption tax on NFT transactions, nor the treatment of royalty income received by NFT creators from secondary market sales.
The general income tax framework would suggest that royalty streams are assessable as income, but formal confirmation has not been published. Creators and collectors operating at scale should seek specific professional advice.
Reporting Requirements
Nigeria’s tax regime for digital assets relies on a combination of self-reporting by taxpayers and mandatory third-party reporting by VASPs. Individual taxpayers are required to include crypto profits in their annual personal income tax return, declaring all chargeable gains arising from the disposal or exchange of digital assets during the tax year.
The FIRS is the relevant authority for federal income tax, while the State Internal Revenue Services administer personal income tax for employed individuals in their respective states.
The NTAA 2025 imposes detailed reporting obligations on VASPs, who must submit monthly reports to the FIRS containing customer names and contact details, residential addresses, TINs and NINs, transaction dates and asset types, transaction values, and descriptions of services provided.
Tax authorities may also request additional data from crypto platforms at any time without prior notice, giving regulators broad visibility into crypto activity. VASP records, including KYC and transaction data, must be retained for at least seven years.
The enforcement architecture of the NTAA 2025 is specifically designed to match crypto income with declared earnings. By requiring exchanges to collect and report customers’ TINs and NINs, the FIRS can compare crypto flows with reported income and flag discrepancies.
This system operates without requiring direct access to the blockchain and is intended to capture activity on both domestic and international platforms that serve Nigerian customers. Nigeria’s approach aligns with CARF, the OECD’s global framework for crypto tax data sharing, which entered into effect on 1 January 2026.
All values must be converted to Nigerian naira for reporting purposes. Taxpayers should record the naira equivalent of each transaction at the time it occurs, using a recognised exchange rate. Where crypto is received as income, the naira value at the date of receipt determines the amount included in assessable income. Subsequent disposal of the same asset may give rise to a further gain or loss calculated by reference to that receipt value as the cost base.
Penalties
The NTAA 2025 establishes firm penalties for non-compliance by VASPs.
A platform that fails to report required transaction data faces an administrative penalty of ₦10 million for the first month of default and ₦1 million for each subsequent month of continued non-reporting.
Beyond financial penalties, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission may suspend or permanently revoke the licence of a non-compliant exchange. These enforcement mechanisms are intended to ensure that the platform-level reporting obligations function as an effective backstop against individual taxpayer evasion.
For individual taxpayers, the general provisions of the Nigerian Tax Act 2025 apply. Underreporting or failing to declare chargeable gains from digital assets exposes the taxpayer to additional assessments, interest on unpaid tax, and penalties.
The FIRS has the authority to raise best-of-judgement assessments where a taxpayer fails to file or where returns are considered incomplete or inaccurate. Serious cases of deliberate evasion may be referred for criminal prosecution under the tax administration framework.
The identity-linking mechanism under the NTAA 2025 significantly reduces the ability of taxpayers to obscure crypto activity. Because crypto flows from exchanges can be matched to national ID numbers and tax records, the FIRS can identify discrepancies between declared income and apparent crypto-derived wealth without requiring complex blockchain forensics.
Voluntary disclosure before FIRS commences an inquiry will generally result in more favourable treatment than a correction prompted by enforcement action.
