Banking Giants Eat the Windfall Tax for Breakfast
The Naira may have tumbled, but Nigeria’s big lenders are still sitting pretty. A 70 percent windfall tax on foreign-exchange gains , retroactive to 2023 and stretching through 2025 , had analysts clutching their pearls when the Senate first beefed up President Bola Tinubu’s proposal. Yet the latest earnings season shows “strong profitability” that is calming those nerves, International Banker reports.
How did the banks get here? The Central Bank’s two rounds of FX-control easing sent the naira sliding about 70 percent against the dollar. That depreciation fattened trading desks, giving lenders what lawmakers call “unearned” gains ripe for taxing. The one-time levy, now at 70 percent, targets those bumper profits to fund social programmes.
Still, first-half numbers suggest the sector can shoulder the hit. Several tier-1 banks booked record net income, more than offsetting the tax bite. “Profitability has been robust enough to allay stability fears,” the magazine writes, quoting Senate Finance Committee chair Mohammed Sani Musa.
The reaction was swift: investors exhaled, while policy watchers noted the move could become a template for taxing other boom-time sectors. Tax pros, however, warn that repeatedly dipping into windfalls risks “policy unpredictability” that could scare capital.
Around the Tax World
- Crypto comes under the microscope. From January 2026, individuals must pay income tax on crypto gains, and exchanges must report user data or face ₦10 million fines, according to Mariblock Weekly.
- Personal and company income tax overhaul set for 2026. Reforms to PIT and CIT will align with the fiscal year, FIRS boss Zacch Adedeji told reporters, per Zawya / Nigerian Tribune.
- Manufacturers push back on tax stamps. A proposed stamp system for excisable goods would pile costs on industry and clash with the new Tax Act 2025, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria argued in BusinessDay.
- FIRS courts voluntary compliance. Taxes are the “foundation of growth,” Adedeji told a Kaduna media forum, urging journalists to build trust, reports Guardian Nigeria.
By the Numbers
Tax Stat of the Day: ₦723 billion , the amount of VAT collected in September 2025, triple the tally from two years ago (BusinessPost).
Looking Ahead
All eyes now turn to January 2026, when the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 and its sister bills , already gazetted, Dataphyte notes , kick in. Expect fresh guidance on crypto reporting, PIT brackets, and those contested tax stamps.
Prepared by MyTax - mytax.com.ng