Is the VAT Threshold ₦50 Million or ₦100 Million?

Two numbers, one law

If you have been reading up on VAT under the new tax laws, you have probably seen both numbers. Some guides say you must register for VAT once your turnover passes ₦100 million. Others say ₦50 million.

They cannot both be right, and the difference is not small. A business turning over ₦70 million is either fully inside the VAT net or comfortably outside it, depending on which number you believe.

Here is where the confusion comes from, and which number the law actually carries.

The gazette says ₦50 million

The threshold is ₦50 million. It comes from the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025, which defines a "small business" at section 147, with the VAT exemption at section 22(4)^[1].

That is the gazetted Act — the version that was signed and published. It is the law.

So where did ₦100 million come from?

From an earlier draft of the same law.

Before a bill becomes an Act, it passes through the National Assembly and gets certified. The certified bill carried ₦100 million. Between that stage and the gazette, the figure changed to ₦50 million.

A great deal of the commentary written about these reforms was published while the bill was the newest available text. Those articles were accurate on the day they went up. They simply were not updated when the gazette landed — and they have been quoted, summarised and reposted ever since.

This is not one stray blog. The same pattern shows up elsewhere in the reforms:

If a source you are reading quotes ₦100 million, that is a reliable sign it is working from the bill^[2].

Why this one matters more than most

Most outdated figures are harmless. This one is not, because the error runs in the dangerous direction.

If you believe the threshold is ₦100 million and your real turnover is ₦60 million, you will conclude that VAT is not your problem. It is. You are above the line, and you have been for as long as your turnover has been there.

An error that tells you to do more than the law requires costs you effort. An error that tells you to do less costs you money, and you usually find out from someone else.

One thing that is genuinely still unclear

We would rather say this plainly than pretend the picture is tidier than it is.

Below ₦50 million, a small business is exempt from charging and filing VAT. That much is in the Act^[3].

Whether such a business must still register for VAT — even while exempt from filing — is not something we can settle from the gazette text alone. The provisions address the filing exemption directly. Registration is less clearly spelt out, and the commentary is split.

So: if you are below ₦50 million, you are not charging VAT and not filing VAT returns. On whether you should still be on the register, ask your accountant or the NRS directly. Anyone giving you a confident answer to that one is more confident than the text supports.

What to do with this

Check where you actually sit. Your turnover is the number that decides it, and most people have never added theirs up across every channel — bank transfers, POS, transfers from clients abroad.

You can work out the VAT position with the VAT calculator, and if you run a registered company, the company tax calculator applies the same ₦50 million line to the 0% small-company rate.

Both are free, and neither needs a sign-up.

Figures reflect the gazetted Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 (§§147, 22(4)) and Nigeria Tax Act 2025 (§§56, 202), in force 1 January 2026, with last-verified dates shown inside the app. Tax outcomes depend on your facts — treat this as plain-English guidance, not advice, and confirm with your State IRS, the NRS, or a qualified adviser. TaxJeje is a product of Fattah Labs Ltd and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Nigeria Revenue Service or any State Internal Revenue Service.