Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has issued new guidelines imposing a 30 per cent corporate income tax on profits earned by medium and large companies from cryptocurrency and other virtual asset activities.
The guidelines, published in a public notice on Monday, apply to companies, individual taxpayers, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), peer-to-peer marketplace operators and other participants in Nigeria’s digital asset ecosystem.
The directive follows President Bola Tinubu’s Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, which established a coordinated framework for the regulation of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenised assets.
Under the guidelines, income generated from cryptocurrency trading, virtual asset exchanges, transaction fees, brokerage commissions, custody and wallet services, token issuance, mining, staking, decentralised finance (DeFi) activities and investment gains will be subject to tax.
The NRS said companies classified as anything other than small companies would pay the standard 30 per cent corporate income tax in line with the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025, while individuals would continue to be taxed under the progressive rates provided by the law.
The agency also clarified that merely holding cryptocurrencies would not trigger tax liability, as unrealised gains would remain untaxed until the assets are sold, exchanged or otherwise disposed of in a taxable transaction.
Similarly, transfers of virtual assets between wallets owned and controlled by the same individual will not attract income tax, provided there is no change in beneficial ownership.
However, the exemption does not extend automatically to transfers involving companies, partnerships, trusts or unincorporated associations. The NRS advised taxpayers to maintain detailed acquisition and transfer records, noting that such transactions could determine the cost base for future taxable disposals.
As part of the compliance framework, companies operating in the virtual asset sector will be required to meet registration, reporting, withholding tax, value-added tax (VAT) and record-keeping obligations.
The NRS warned that failure to comply with the guidelines could result in sanctions, including fines of ₦10 million for breaches by Virtual Asset Service Providers, alongside additional monthly penalties for continuing defaults.
The guidelines complement the Federal Government’s broader regulatory reforms for digital assets. Under the Presidential Executive Order, a Virtual Asset Council chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was established, with the NRS and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) serving as vice-chairmen to coordinate oversight of the sector.
The government said the measures are intended to provide tax certainty for businesses and investors while strengthening regulatory oversight as the use of virtual assets continues to expand across Nigeria’s financial system.