Nigeria
Nigeria: 6 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment, and what it is known for.
Forming a company
Company types in Nigeria
The 6 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
What it is known for
Where Nigeria is in the world’s top 10 on a measure anyone can check, the best rank first. Only the top is shown; a low rank is never stated.
- World’s3rdWorld-leading exports Cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roastedUS$2.2 bn · 11.8% of world exports of 135 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
A rank is among everything the source reports for that year, so it moves when the source adds or drops economies. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Nigeria. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for Nigeria.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Nigeria: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Nigeria belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- African Continental Free Trade Area
- Free trade area · since 5 December 2020
Covers goods, services.
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means a Member State that has ratified or acceded to this Agreement and for which the Agreement is in force
- ECOWAS
- Customs union · since 28 May 1975
Covers goods, a common external tariff, movement of people, establishment.
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Cabo Verde joined the union in 1977.
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 30%
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Not in our records
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- NGN 5,000Official The registry or ministry page as of 2026-10-15
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l. Annual Returns, other post 5,000 5,000 5,000 10,000
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Nigeria, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- Not in our recordsThe tax authority’s pages have not been read for Nigeria.
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Nigeria, tax year 2026, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 6 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
Self-assessment return, not more than six months after the accounting year end. A newly incorporated company: within 18 months of incorporation or six months after its first accounting period, whichever is earlier. Page is script-drawn, so no content hash.
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In the case of a company that has been in business for more than 18 months, not more than six months after the end of its accounting year;
- Corporate tax, final payment
- Not in our records
nrs.gov.ng/tax-information/corporate-income-tax inaccessible when checked
- Corporate tax, instalments
- Not in our records
nrs.gov.ng/tax-information/corporate-income-tax inaccessible when checked
- Personal income-tax return
- 31 March · each year
NRS page states the date varies across states and the NRS; March 31 is given for employed individuals. Personal income tax is administered by state internal revenue services for most residents.
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Filing Due Date is 90 days after end of the tax year (March 31) for employed individuals
- Personal income tax, final payment
- Not in our records
nrs.gov.ng/tax-information/corporate-income-tax inaccessible when checked
- Personal income tax, instalments
- Not in our records
nrs.gov.ng/tax-information/corporate-income-tax inaccessible when checked
- VAT return
- Day 21 of the following month · each month
Return and payment by the 21st (form VAT 002).
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VAT returns must be filed monthly, not later than the 21st day of the month following the month of transaction.
- Payroll withholding
- Day 10 of the following month · each month
The page's remittance clause is sub-numbered under payments to the NRS (21st for the general case); PAYE and capital gains tax are given as the 10th. State-administered PAYE may differ.
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with respect to Capital Gains Tax and Pay-As-You-Earn, not later than the 10th day of the month following the payment,
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Nigeria yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Nigeria exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Nigeria’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude HS 2709 | 72.7% | 71.7% | 63.8% | US$40.6 bn |
| Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons HS 2711 | 13.7% | 13.1% | 16.7% | US$10.7 bn |
| Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, other than crude; preparations not elsewhere specified or included, containing by weight 70 % or more of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations; waste oils HS 2710 | 1.6% | 1.1% | 4.9% | US$3.1 bn |
| Cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roasted HS 1801 | 0.73% | 1.3% | 3.5% | US$2.2 bn |
| Mineral or chemical fertilisers, nitrogenous HS 3102 | 2.8% | 1.8% | 1.6% | US$1 bn |
| Light-vessels, fire-floats, dredgers, floating cranes, and other vessels the navigability of which is subsidiary to their main function; floating docks; floating or submersible drilling or production platforms HS 8905 | 0.85% | under 0.05% | 0.83% | US$531 m |
| Other oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, whether or not broken HS 1207 | 0.43% | 0.48% | 0.61% | US$391 m |
| Gold (including gold plated with platinum), unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form HS 7108 | 1.2% | 2.4% | 0.55% | US$348 m |
| Coconuts, Brazil nuts and cashew nuts, fresh or dried, whether or not shelled or peeled HS 0801 | 0.49% | 0.66% | 0.49% | US$313 m |
| Unwrought aluminium HS 7601 | 0.44% | 0.38% | 0.49% | US$313 m |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$63.7 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.