Nigerians will now pay a 0.5% cybersecurity tax on transfers made, following an announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday, May 6, 2024.
According to the CBN circular, the levy will go to the national cybersecurity fund and will be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA). Although 16 transactions are exempted from the new levy, Nigerians on social media are calling on the government to halt its implementation because there are already more than five charges on banking transactions.
The new levy is expected to take effect in two weeks (from Monday, April 20, 2024). Here is the full list of applicable costs of electronic transactions in Nigeria
Cybersecurity levy
Who bears the cost?
The sender
For context, what this means is that if you transfer N20,000, 0.5 per cent of the amount is N100, meaning the receiver will receive N19,900 if you send the actual amount. If you want the receiver to get their full payment, sending N20,000 means you will have to add N100 to the actual amount, making it N20,010.
Although, some transactions are exempted from the new levy, here is how much you will charged, depending on the amount of transactions:
- N500 on N100,000
- N2,500 on N500,000
- N5,000 on N1,000,000
- N25,000 on N5,000,000
- N50,000 on N10,000,000
- N100,000 on N20,000,000
- N250,000 on N50,000,000
- N500,000 on N100,000,000
Transfer fees
Who bears the levy?
The sender.
Here are the applicable charges:
- N10 on N5,000
- N25 on N5,000 – N50,000
- N50 on an amount greater than N50,000
Stamp duty
Who bears the cost?
The recipient.
- N50 on N10,000,000
- N50 on N1,000,000
- N50 on N100,000
- N50 on N10,000
SMS Fee
The sender and the recipient bear the levy.
- N4 on each electronic transfer notification
Value added tax
The sender bears the levy.
- N0.75 on N10 transfer fee
- N1.875 on N25 transfer fee
- N3.75 on N50 transfer fee