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Nigeria wants a cut of crypto profits. The new tax law unveils the mechanisms that will ultimately make cryptocurrencies traceable: the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and the National Identification Number (NIN).
TechCabal’s analysis of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 (NTAA) shows that the government is planning ways to make cryptocurrency transactions, once largely invisible to tax authorities, traceable by linking transactions to real identities through TINs and NINs.
This marks a turning point in how digital currencies are tracked in Nigeria. Attaching a TIN allows crypto transactions to be matched against income declarations and tax records, allowing authorities to trace funds beyond the wallet and into the formal economy without necessarily touching the blockchain itself.
The move aligns Nigeria with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s new Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), which aims to curb tax evasion and avoidance in digital assets. The framework, which came into effect on January 1, 2026, will allow tax authorities to obtain information on virtual currency transactions conducted domestically and internationally.
For example, in the UK, crypto asset providers must collect the customer’s name, date of birth, National Insurance number or taxpayer-specific reference number for residents, and TIN (including country of issue) for non-residents.
Nigeria is currently building towards similar visibility.
Why use TIN/NIN?
TIN, also known as Taxpayer ID, is a unique number jointly issued by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Joint Revenue Board (JRB). It exists to track individuals and businesses for tax administration, compliance, and enforcement.
The NIN is Nigeria’s closest equivalent to a social security number, linking an individual to biometric data (fingerprints and facial records) in a national identity database. For individuals, the TIN is generated from the NIN.
By requiring cryptocurrency service providers to collect and report their customers’ TINs and NINs, Nigeria is extending its already expansive identity tracking system into the digital asset economy. Rather than building complex blockchain monitoring infrastructure, authorities can follow a cleaner trajectory from crypto exchanges to named individuals to declared income.
Why cryptocurrencies?
Nigeria’s cryptocurrency market will receive an estimated value of $92.1 billion from July 2024 to June 2025, ranking it as one of the largest markets in the world.
With Nigeria planning to raise its tax-to-GDP ratio from less than 10% to 18% by 2027, tapping into a growing sector makes sense for regulators but raises concerns for users.
The $92.1 billion represents the total amount of the transaction, not the profit, but if even a portion of it is taxed, it could provide valuable revenue for a country trying to wean itself off oil revenues.
How the report works
Under the 2025 NTAA, virtual asset service providers (VASPs) will be required to file monthly returns with the relevant tax authorities, increasing compliance costs.
These returns must include the nature of the virtual asset services provided (exchange, sale, transfer, storage). Date of each transaction. Type and value of virtual assets involved. Sales amount of crypto assets. Customer’s name, address, telephone number, email address, and tax identification number (including Customer’s NIN, if applicable).
The law states, “The customer’s name, address, telephone number, email address, and tax identification number (including national identification number if the customer is an individual).”
Other information may include the names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, and other additional information of the counterparties involved in the transaction.
Tax authorities are also empowered to request additional information from VASPs with or without notice.
Beyond tax reporting, VASPs will also be required to report large or suspicious transactions to both tax authorities and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), extending the oversight of cryptocurrencies into the country’s broader anti-money laundering framework.
Exchanges are also required to maintain know-your-customer (KYC) records and retain customer transaction and identification data for at least seven years after the last transaction.
Compliance and tax tracker
NTAA 2025 Regulatory Footprint Mapping.
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Source: NTAA 2025 Section 25 and ISA 2025. Fine for violation: ₦10 million.
tax burden
This is not the first time Nigeria has attempted to tax crypto profits. The Finance Act 2022 introduced a 10% tax on profits from digital assets, but enforcement has proven difficult in ecosystems where transactions are less tied to individuals.
NTAA is trying to fill that gap. VASPs are currently required to register with tax authorities, while crypto traders are required to self-declare profits that fall under personal income tax.
“Taxable persons engaged in virtual asset activities shall keep records and books as provided for in Article 31 of this Law and report virtual asset activities to the relevant tax authorities,” the law states.
Requiring the use of TINs and NINs, which are already mandatory for bank account operations, adds a layer of oversight that did not previously exist. What once operated in a regulatory gray area is being drawn into a system of intense scrutiny.
This push for tax increases is also consistent with broader regulatory changes. In March 2025, Nigeria’s Investment and Securities Act of 2025 (ISA) formally recognized virtual and digital assets as securities and brought VASPs, digital asset operators (DAOPs), and digital asset exchanges (DAX) under the supervision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Violating VASPs will be subject to a fine of ₦10 million ($7,026.57) for the first month of default and ₦1 million ($702.66) for each subsequent month, with the risk of license suspension or revocation.
Nigeria’s new tax law is the most far-reaching the country has seen in decades. By forcing cryptocurrency service providers to report TINs and NINs along with transaction data, tax authorities will no longer be passive observers of digital finance. They can now connect crypto transactions to real people, existing income records, and past tax returns. In doing so, cryptocurrencies move from a largely opaque activity to one that can be tracked, cross-checked, audited, and taxed.
