Nigeria Companies Income Tax (CIT) Calculator (2026)
CIT, Development Levy, and the 15% effective-tax-rate top-up for large companies — with the full small-company test, not just a turnover check.
SMALL-COMPANY QUALIFICATION TEST
A professional-services business never qualifies as small, regardless of turnover or assets.
15% EFFECTIVE TAX RATE TOP-UP (SECTION 57)
Only applies to a constituent entity of a multinational enterprise (MNE) group, or a company with turnover of ₦20,000,000,000 or more. Most Nigerian companies never encounter this.
Nigeria Companies Income Tax (CIT) Calculator
Companies Income Tax under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 is simple at the headline level — 0% for a small company, 30% for everyone else — but “small company” is a stricter, three-part test than most people assume, and a small minority of very large companies face a separate 15% effective-tax-rate floor most calculators don’t model at all. This tool covers both.
The Small-Company Test Is Three Conditions, Not One
Under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, a “small company” must meet all three of: gross turnover of ₦50,000,000 or less per year, total fixed assets not exceeding ₦250,000,000, and not be a professional-services business — defined as a firm providing specialised consulting, planning, or support services (artisans and vocational services are excluded from this carve-out and can still qualify as small). A consulting firm with ₦20,000,000 in turnover and no meaningful fixed assets still pays the full 30% CIT rate, purely because of what kind of business it is — a genuine trap for anyone assuming turnover alone decides the question.
The Development Levy Rides Alongside CIT
Non-small, Nigerian-resident companies also pay a 4% Development Levy on the same assessable-profit figure CIT is calculated on — filed together, same deadline. Small companies are exempt, and so are non-resident companies specifically (a separate carve-out from the small-company exemption), which is why this calculator asks about residency status on its own.
Minimum Tax Is Gone — Mostly
The old turnover-based minimum tax (a flat percentage of gross turnover for companies with little or no taxable profit) has been abolished under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 — it simply isn’t in the law anymore. What replaced it is much narrower: a 15% effective-tax-rate floor under Section 57, which only applies to companies that are constituent entities of a multinational enterprise group, or companies with turnover of ₦20,000,000,000 or more. If neither applies to you, there’s no minimum-tax-style mechanism to worry about at all.
How the 15% Top-Up Actually Works
For a qualifying large company, the Act defines “profits” for this purpose as audited net profit before tax, less 5% of depreciation and personnel costs for the year — not the same figure as assessable profit for ordinary CIT purposes. If dividing the company’s Nigerian tax paid by that adjusted profit figure comes out below 15%, the company must pay a top-up to bring its effective rate exactly to 15%. This calculator models “tax paid” as CIT plus Development Levy — disclosed as a simplification, since a company’s full “aggregate covered tax” for this purpose could include other taxes this tool doesn’t otherwise compute.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Companies Income Tax rate in Nigeria in 2026?
0% for a small company, 30% for any other company.
What qualifies a company as “small” for Nigerian tax purposes?
Turnover ≤ ₦50,000,000, fixed assets ≤ ₦250,000,000, and not a professional-services business — all three, together.
Is there still a minimum tax for companies in Nigeria?
No, the old turnover-based minimum tax was abolished. Only a narrower 15% effective-tax-rate top-up remains, for MNE-group companies or turnover ≥ ₦20,000,000,000.
How does the 15% effective tax rate top-up work?
If Nigerian tax paid, divided by adjusted audited profit, is below 15%, the company pays additional tax to reach exactly 15%.
This calculator takes assessable profit as a direct input rather than computing it from revenue and capital allowances, which is its own substantial topic under the Act’s First Schedule. It does not model the possible third category of companies Section 57 may apply to (a non-resident company with a Nigerian parent, mentioned by some secondary sources but not independently confirmed in this build’s own reading of the Act’s text), and does not compute a top-up when adjusted profit is zero or negative. Confirm your specific figures with the Nigeria Revenue Service or a qualified tax professional.
