Nigeria has issued new guidelines imposing tax collection, reporting and payment obligations on cryptocurrency exchanges and peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms.

On Aug. 4 local time, blockchain outlet Cointelegraph reported that some withholding taxes must be paid in the token in which the transaction occurred.

Nigeria's tax authority (NRS) recently detailed how existing tax laws apply to digital asset transactions and rewards through its "Digital Asset Taxation Guidelines". The key point is that it designates exchanges and P2P marketplaces as the main entities responsible for withholding, reporting and payment. Under the rules, platforms must withhold 1 percent of disposal proceeds for taxable crypto assets, security tokens and applicable non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

A 10 percent withholding tax rate applies to staking, mining, airdrops and decentralised finance (DeFi) income. A 1.5 percent stamp duty applies to conversions between tokens and fiat currency and to trades that buy and sell tokens in fiat currency. NRS said withheld income tax and stamp duty must be paid to the tax authorities in the "token used in the transaction". It distinguished value-added tax as payable in the "currency used for payment".

The withheld amount is recognised as a prepaid tax when final income tax is assessed. Individuals are subject to progressive tax rates, and corporations other than small businesses are subject to a 30 percent rate. Sales of stablecoins are excluded from the 1 percent withholding requirement.

The guidelines follow an order by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu (볼라 티누부) to establish a Virtual Asset Committee, a coordinating body for digital asset policy. The central bank chairs the committee, with NRS and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) serving as vice chairs. The presidential office said on July 18 that the tax authority would announce an enforcement policy for digital asset tax laws.

The regulatory change follows a tax overhaul that took effect on Jan. 1. Nigeria's Tax Act and Tax Administration Act 2025 defined digital assets as taxable assets. They also imposed reporting requirements on digital asset service providers for transaction details including customer names, contact information and taxpayer identification numbers.

Nigeria first clarified the basis for taxation by applying a flat 10 percent capital gains tax on profits from crypto disposals under the 2023 Finance Act. The existing approach changed after a system overhaul in 2025, and the new guidelines set out methods for assessing gains and procedures for tax withholding, payment and settlement.

As a result, platforms are set to play a bigger role in Nigeria's crypto market at the transaction stage. In particular, as exchanges and P2P platforms become operational gateways for tax enforcement, there may be a greater operational burden, including user verification, transaction reporting and token-denominated payment processing. At the same time, the authorities have effectively begun fully incorporating digital asset transactions into the existing tax law framework.