Would Bitcoin earnings be considered taxable income under the new NTA 2026?

[CTO114]

Earlier in the year, there was a lot of talk about the new Nigerian Tax Act (NTA) 2026, an a lot of individuals and corporations still haven't gotten to grips with what it would take.

So as it concerns Bitcoin, Yes! Earnings from Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be part of a tax payer's  taxable income. In essence, under the tax law, profits or income you get from Bitcoin related activities can most likely count as taxable income.

Profits from selling Bitcoin would count as Capital gains, which is taxable, while income from crypto activities  will count as normal income, which is then taxable.

How would Bitcoin not classify as taxable income? Well, from a legal point of view, there are limited scenarios: if your total profits from Bitcoin and other crypto currency activities are less than the tax lit of 800,000 naira you will not owe taxes, and secondly when losses are incurred from activities, like selling Bitcoin at a loss, this may also reduce the taxable income.

However if Bitcoin is received as a gift and be proven, it will not be considered as taxable income.

The new tax act's aim is to make Bitcoin earnings more visible and accountable.

[Charles-Tim]

selling Bitcoin at a loss, this may also reduce the taxable income.

If you do not make any profit, you posted that it will not be taxable, this definitely means that selling at a loss will also not be taxable.

If the government should be fear on this, regardless of the year, anyone losing should first have positive realized PnL before tax should be paid just like how it is in other countries. I think this should be how it is also in Nigeria.

[Moreno233]

The new tax law is still a bit complicated, not many people understand how it will be implemented. Since it is a new tax regime, we will begin to understand what fall into their taxable income and how those taxes will be collected with time. I don't know how they will tax earnings in Bitcoin that are sitting in private wallets or traded in exchanges when cryptocurrency is not regulated in Nigeria. In addition, if the government want to tax cryptocurrency in Nigeria, they should fix unblock access to the website of exchanges so that they can operate freely and be able to collaborate with the government.

[Charles-Tim]

The new tax law is still a bit complicated, not many people understand how it will be implemented.

The tax has began on 1st of January of this year.

There is nothing complicated about the tax. You can make use of tax calculator for it.

Personal income tax calculators

Since it is a new tax regime, we will begin to understand what fall into their taxable income and how those taxes will be collected with time. I don't know how they will tax earnings in Bitcoin that are sitting in private wallets or traded in exchanges when cryptocurrency is not regulated in Nigeria.

There is a reason the UK and EU want to people to disclose the addresses generated by their noncustodial wallets, there is no law like that in Nigeria yet.

The tax authority can request for people's information on exchanges that have license in Nigeria. There is work ongoing on this for effective way to more about people's transactions on exchanges.

[Doan9269]

Government will tax the crypto sectors and that is why they are regulating it, because they cant afford to waive it for us to keep earning in foreign or decentralized currency and not be taxed, they believed its part of earnings made and this will rather bring in more money for us, this also applies to all contents creators as well, they have to be considered at the same pace, because they cant escape government tax, while for some of us into crypto, except we don't make use of centralized exchanges and directly uses bitcoin for buying and selling.

[Chibit01]

The tax authority can request for people's information on exchanges that have license in Nigeria. There is work ongoing on this for effective way to more about people's transactions on exchanges.

I think they have already sent circulars to exchanges which are licensed in Nigeria same time they sent to offshore companies where our people are working abroad, they need everyone who is qualified to pay tax to be taxes deducted by the exchange I guess and send over to them, and if it’s going to work that way how will they calculate an inflow of stable coin or other coins converted and traded to naira because the exchange won’t record the user to be making any profit.

[Curious T]

and secondly when losses are incurred from activities, like selling Bitcoin at a loss, this may also reduce the taxable income.

Its called "capital gains tax" for a reason. Meaning you're only being tax on the profit of your capital. If you don't make any profit from it, you are not to pay any taxes. So if you had a loss, you are not paying any taxes. Capita gains tax in Nigerian used to be a flat rate of 10 per cent, but now its progressive depending on how much you make but but it's between 15-30 per cent. This 15 per cent is taken from the profit of the capital, not from the capital. Meaning if you buy Bitcoin of about one million naira and you make a profit of 100 thousand, you will pay 15 per cent of 100 thousand as tax, which is 15 thousand naira.