Every time someone buys Bitcoin, the stablecoin USDT, or another cryptocurrency in Nigeria, the government will take a share of the transaction — and it wants that tax remitted in the same digital asset being traded.
New virtual asset tax guidelines issued by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) on Monday impose a 1.5% stamp duty on token-to-fiat and fiat-to-token transfers. Rather than deducting the levy from a buyer’s bank account, registered crypto exchanges and other virtual asset service providers (VASPs) must withhold the tax from the digital assets credited to a buyer’s wallet before remitting it to the government.
“Income tax deducted at source and stamp duty shall be remitted to the Service in the originating token of the transaction,” the tax authority said.
The guidelines represent Nigeria’s most comprehensive attempt yet to bring cryptocurrency transactions into the country’s tax system. In addition to introducing a 1.5% stamp duty on eligible virtual asset transactions, they effectively turn crypto exchanges into tax collectors by requiring them to deduct taxes in digital assets before users receive their tokens. The framework also clarifies how income tax, value-added tax (VAT), and stamp duty will apply to activities including trading, staking, mining, and other virtual asset transactions.
