Starting January 1, 2026, every electronic transfer above ₦10,000 will cost senders an additional ₦50. This marks a fundamental shift in how Nigeria’s digital payment system works—and who bears the financial burden of electronic transactions.
For five years, Nigerians became accustomed to the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), a ₦50 charge that was quietly deducted from money received, often going unnoticed by the recipient. Under the newly enacted Nigeria Tax Act 2025, this system is being dismantled and replaced with what the government is calling “stamp duty”—a tax that senders must now pay upfront, in addition to existing bank transfer fees.
The practical difference is straightforward but significant. Previously, if you received a transfer of ₦50,000, you actually received ₦50,000 whilst the ₦50 EMTL was invisibly deducted somewhere in the transaction chain. From January 1, you will send ₦50,000, and the person receiving it will get the full ₦50,000. But you, as the sender, will pay an additional ₦50 on top of the bank’s standard transfer fee.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Access Bank both sent notices to customers this week explicitly confirming the change. According to UBA’s notice: “The Sender now bears the Stamp Duty charge. Previously, this charge was deducted from the Beneficiary/Receiver.” The banks emphasised that this ₦50 is separate from regular transfer fees and will be clearly disclosed to customers at the point of transaction.
Current bank transfer fees in Nigeria stand at ₦10 for transfers below ₦5,000, ₦25 for transfers between ₦5,001 and ₦50,000, and ₦50 for transfers above ₦50,000. With the new stamp duty added, sending ₦50,000 could cost ₦100 in combined charges—double what senders currently pay. For transfers of ₦10,000 to ₦50,000, costs will rise to between ₦75 and ₦100 per transaction.
The Nigeria Tax Act 2025, signed by President Bola Tinubu on June 26, 2025, represents the most comprehensive tax overhaul Nigeria has undertaken in decades. The legislation consolidates multiple fragmented tax laws—including the Companies Income Tax Act, Personal Income Tax Act, and the Stamp Duties Act—into a unified, modernised framework. The government is banking heavily on expanded stamp duty collections to diversify revenue away from oil.
The numbers tell the story. The Electronic Money Transfer Levy generated ₦219.11 billion in 2024, exceeding its ₦174.24 billion projection. Between January and July 2025 alone, collections had already reached ₦211.75 billion—over 92 per cent of its ₦228.85 billion full-year target. This growth accelerated significantly after fintech platforms such as OPay, PalmPay, and Moniepoint were brought into the levy net in December 2024, dramatically expanding the tax base beyond traditional banks.
With the shift to stamp duty and broader enforcement measures, the government is projecting substantially higher revenues. Official budget documents show expectations of ₦456.07 billion in stamp duty revenue in 2026, rising to ₦579.82 billion in 2027 and ₦752.45 billion in 2028. These projections are already embedded in Nigeria’s medium-term expenditure framework, making stamp duty a cornerstone of fiscal planning for the next three years.
The government has provided some relief, though limited. Transfers below ₦10,000 are completely exempt from stamp duty. Critically, salary payments and transfers between accounts within the same bank (intra-bank transfers) are also exempt from the ₦50 charge. This exemption for salaries acknowledges that employers already withhold taxes from employee pay, and providing an additional deduction would compound the burden on working Nigerians.
For everyone else—individuals sending remittances, businesses making payments, traders settling invoices—the ₦50 charge applies uniformly to all transfers above the ₦10,000 threshold. Unlike the previous EMTL system, which created some uncertainty around total transaction costs, the banks say the new stamp duty will be clearly disclosed before transactions are completed, allowing customers to see exactly what they will pay.
The expansion of stamp duty beyond traditional banks into fintech platforms represents a significant revenue opportunity for the government. Fintech transactions have exploded in Nigeria. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, mobile money transactions hit ₦20.71 trillion, up 1,518.64 per cent from ₦1.28 trillion in the same quarter of 2021. OPay and PalmPay have become dominant players, with OPay crossing 20 million daily active users and PalmPay processing over 15 million daily transactions.
Before December 2024, stamp duty applied only to bank transfers. Now, every transaction through OPay, PalmPay, Moniepoint, and other fintech platforms above ₦10,000 will be subject to the ₦50 charge. This brings a vast volume of previously untaxed transactions into the government’s revenue machinery. For fintech platforms that built rapid adoption on cheap or free transfers, the new charge weakens a key selling point, though most have already begun adjusting their fee structures to accommodate the regulation.
For individual Nigerians, the accumulated cost is substantial. Someone who makes just one transfer of ₦10,000 or more every business day will pay an extra ₦1,000 per month solely in stamp duty—equivalent to ₦12,000 per year. For salaried workers sending money home, paying rent digitally, or settling school fees, the cost compounds. A business making multiple payments weekly could see transfers become noticeably more expensive.
The banks have been at pains to characterise the change as a simplification. They argue that replacing the percentage-based charges of previous regimes with a flat ₦50 makes costs more predictable and easier to understand upfront. However, this argument overlooks a crucial shift: the burden has moved from those receiving money to those sending it. In the EMTL era, receiving a transfer meant accepting a slight reduction. Under the new system, sending money is unambiguously more expensive.
For businesses, the change offers a subtle advantage. Companies receiving frequent payments no longer need to explain why transfers arrived slightly short of what was sent. For point-of-sale agents and traders who bake every possible charge into withdrawal fees, eliminating the ₦50 deduction on incoming transfers slightly reduces operational friction. Yet these gains are offset by the increased cost to individuals and small businesses that initiate transactions—the foundation of Nigeria’s digital payments ecosystem.
The stamp duty change does not exist in isolation. It is one component of Nigeria’s sweeping 2026 tax reforms, which take effect January 1. The government has also announced measures to bring remote workers and freelancers into the tax net, introduced a 5 per cent levy on fossil fuels to promote clean energy, and created a new Economic Development Tax Incentive to replace the previous Pioneer Status regime.
President Tinubu reaffirmed his government’s commitment to the reforms on Tuesday, stating that the new tax laws would “continue as planned” despite criticisms from opposition groups and civil society organisations. The President characterised the reforms as “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a fair, competitive, and robust fiscal foundation” for the country, rather than as a mechanism to increase the tax burden on citizens.
Nigeria’s digital payments ecosystem has grown at extraordinary speed. Mobile app payments jumped 33.65 per cent year-on-year to ₦104.07 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, driven by smartphone adoption and renewed bank investment in digital channels. The transition from physical cash to electronic transfers has been one of Nigeria’s most visible economic transformations, underpinned by the affordability and convenience of digital platforms.
The new stamp duty regimen introduces friction into this system at a critical moment. Digital payments remain expensive compared to some neighbouring countries, and the added ₦50 per transfer will make them relatively more costly. For poor and lower-income Nigerians relying on digital transfers to access services, education, and income opportunities, the change introduces a barrier that did not previously exist.
Fintech platforms face a particular challenge. Having built their business models on low-cost, high-volume transactions, they must now pass the stamp duty onto customers or absorb it themselves. Most have chosen the former, adjusting fee structures to reflect the new regulatory environment. This may slow growth in a sector that has been one of Nigeria’s most dynamic, or accelerate migration to cash-based alternatives for certain transaction types.
Banks and fintech platforms have been given guidance to implement the new stamp duty regime by January 1. The Central Bank of Nigeria has instructed financial institutions to clearly disclose the charge to customers at the point of transaction, ensuring transparency in what customers will pay. Transfers that currently cost ₦25 will become ₦75. Those costing ₦50 will become ₦100. Salary payments and intra-bank transfers will remain unaffected.
For individuals and businesses accustomed to ₦10,000-plus transfers costing ₦25 to ₦50, the adjustment will be immediate and noticeable. Over months, the accumulated cost will be substantial. The government, meanwhile, is banking on these billions in new revenue to fund its fiscal framework and diversify away from oil dependence.
