Nigeria requires non-resident suppliers to register for VAT and charge it on their invoices

What changed in detail

Section 150 of the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025 (Act No. 7), in force from 1 January 2026, sets out how VAT applies to supplies made by non-residents.

• s.150(1): a non-resident person who makes taxable supplies to Nigeria must register for tax and include VAT on its invoice for all taxable supplies.
• s.150(2): where a non-resident supplies from outside Nigeria to persons in Nigeria, the taxable person receiving the supply must withhold the VAT and remit it to the Service.
• s.150(3)–(5): the Service may appoint any person, including a non-resident supplier, to collect and remit the VAT. Where an appointed collector has charged the VAT, the Nigerian customer no longer has to withhold it, unless the collector failed to collect. A collector that only earns commission must collect through the mechanism it uses for its commission.
• s.150(6): a non-resident may appoint a representative for its VAT compliance.
• s.150(7): the Service may issue guidelines, including on the form, time and procedure for returns and payment by appointed non-resident suppliers.
• s.150(8): goods imported through a non-resident’s online platform, where VAT was already collected, are not taxed again at clearance on proof of payment.

Section 145 decides when a service or incorporeal is supplied in Nigeria: broadly, when it is consumed or exploited by a person in Nigeria, wherever it is rendered.

What it means

Registration is now a statutory duty for any non-resident making taxable supplies to Nigeria, not only for those the Service appoints as collectors. The Act keeps two backstops. A Nigerian business customer self-withholds where VAT was not charged, and platforms can be appointed as collectors. Non-resident sellers should expect both routes to be used.

This record is part of the wider Chapter Six rewrite (ng-vat-act-codification-2025). As of November 2026 section 150 is in force as enacted. We found no amendment to it. The procedural detail lives in the Service’s guidelines under s.150(7), not in the Act.