Nigeria has introduced its first formal tax framework for virtual assets, setting out tax obligations for cryptocurrency users, exchanges, peer to peer marketplace operators and other digital asset businesses. In a public notice issued on Monday, the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) announced new Guidelines on the Taxation of Virtual Assets, requiring taxpayers to maintain transaction records, file relevant tax returns and determine taxable income based on the fair market value of assets at the time of each transaction.
The guidelines also place reporting, record keeping and compliance obligations on Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) and P2P marketplace operators in line with the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 and the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025. They cover income derived from digital asset activities, including token sales, payments received in virtual assets, mining rewards, staking income, decentralised finance rewards and other cryptocurrency related earnings.
According to the NRS, the framework is designed to provide clarity, certainty and consistency in the taxation of virtual assets while encouraging voluntary compliance and greater transparency across the digital asset ecosystem. The move follows President Bola Tinubu’s July 18 executive order establishing a coordinated regulatory framework for virtual assets as part of efforts to support Nigeria’s target of building a one trillion dollar economy by 2030.
The new framework comes as Nigeria, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency markets, seeks to improve oversight of digital asset transactions and expand its non oil tax revenue. It also aligns with a growing trend across Africa, where countries are introducing clearer regulatory and tax rules for cryptocurrency businesses to strengthen fiscal administration and improve compliance.