Nigeria

Nigeria, a country located in West Africa along the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean, is a federal constitutional republic comprised of 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. English is the official language of Nigeria, and its currency is the Nigerian naira (NGN).

Nigeria became the largest economy in Africa after rebasing in 2014. The gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated at 397 billion United States dollars (USD) for 2018 based on the information available from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics.

As a developing country, Nigeria has been recognised by prominent members of the global investment community and economists as an up-and-coming market with tremendous growth potential over the next decades. A member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since 1971, Nigeria ranks as the largest oil producer in Africa and the 11th largest in the world. In addition to oil and gas, Nigeria has vast underexploited mineral resources, including coal, bauxite, gold, and iron ore. The country's natural resources have attracted the attention of the super major oil and gas companies as well as businesses in allied industries, including oil field equipment and services, transportation and logistics, and petrochemicals and plastics.

As the seventh most populous country in the world, Nigeria is also rapidly expanding its infrastructure and witnessing foreign and domestic investment from major players in the engineering and construction industry as well as the telecommunications sector. The financial services segment also continues to expand in Nigeria as international banks and investors look to capitalise on the expansion of the West African market.

Nigeria’s tax compliance rate is significantly low compared to other countries, especially given the weak revenue administration capacity to deal with evasion and lack of data mainly around the informal sector. The present administration set up the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee (‘the Committee‘), which was inaugurated on 8 August 2023 and tasked with the mandate of addressing critical challenges around three main pillars: fiscal governance, revenue transformation, and economic growth facilitation.

The Finance Act 2023 amends 11 laws. The highlight of the Act is an increase in the Tertiary Education Tax rate from 2.5% to 3%, removal of certain corporate incentives, introduction of excise duties on all services, etc. The effective date of the Finance Act 2023 is 1 September 2023.

The Federal Ministry of Finance has recently issued the Deduction at Source (Withholding) Regulations 2024 (the ’Regulations‘ or ’WHT Regulations‘), effective 1 July 2024, except for the rules applicable to the gaming sector, which are billed to commence on 1 October 2024. These Regulations have introduced a number of changes to the withholding tax (WHT) regime in Nigeria. However, given that the Regulations are yet to be gazetted, the tax authorities and taxpayers are yet to implement the provisions of the Regulations.

Nigeria has signed a new tax treaty with Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries to eliminate double taxation on income, capital, and inheritance. This comes through an Order signed by the Minister of Finance on 1st May 2023 and is in addition to the 16 Double Tax Treaty Agreements that Nigeria has in force. Effective from 1 January 2024, the treaty applies to various taxes like personal income tax (PIT), corporate income tax (CIT), petroleum profit tax (PPT), capital gains tax (CGT), tertiary education tax, and national information technology development levy. The tax treaty is not yet to be implemented as the treaty is yet to be ratified in the counterparty ECOWAS countries.

PwC has been operating in Nigeria since 1953 through its predecessor firms of Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse. We are one of the leading professional services firms in Nigeria, with offices in Lagos, Abuja, and Port-Harcourt, over 1,000 staff, and 36 resident partners.

We are committed to serving as a force for integrity, good sense, and wise solutions to the problems facing our clients. We are guided by one promise: to do what is right, be it with our people, clients, community, or environment. Our clients range from the biggest, most complex global establishments to smaller, newer businesses both privately owned and those in the public domain. Our Tax services meet the needs and requirements of each client, irrespective of size or location.