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Nigeria’s new virtual asset tax guidelines do more than tax crypto traders. They turn cryptocurrency exchanges, brokers, custodians, wallet operators, and peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace operators into extensions of the country’s tax collection network.
Under the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) framework, a Nigerian virtual asset service provider (VASP) may have to deduct withholding tax on qualifying virtual asset sales, withhold stamp duty in Bitcoin or USDT, charge value-added tax (VAT) on exchange and service fees, file multiple tax returns, maintain transaction records for six years, and pay up to 30% company income tax on its own profits.
The rules come as Nigeria seeks to strengthen non-oil revenue collection. Company income tax collections fell 8.08% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2026 to ₦1.37 trillion ($1 billion), according to the National Bureau of Statistics, adding pressure on authorities to improve tax compliance across emerging sectors.
“VASPs, like every other company, shall bear their own corporate income tax liability on their revenues,” the NRS said in the guidelines. “This is separate from their deduction of tax at source obligations.”
