IN SHORT: Multiple Facebook posts claim that Nigerians earning N800,000 or more in a year will pay 20% tax starting 1 January 2026. But the claim misrepresents the country's new tax law.
A day after Nigerian social media influencer Habeeb Hamzat, better known as Peller, lamented that a N36 million income tax bill was imposed on him by the Lagos state government, a claim about tax began circulating on Facebook.
It said that Nigerians earning N800,000 or more a year (above US$522) would pay 20% tax starting 1 January 2026.
One Facebook post reads:
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BREAKING NEWS. Starting January 1 2026, anyone, Nigerian or foreigner, who does business in Nigeria and earns N800,000 or more in a year will have to pay 20% tax on their total yearly income, whether they live in Nigeria or not.
Another post links the claim to Peller's tax issue, saying that the tax demand by the state government amounted to 20% of the TikToker's annual income. "This is how it works. No escaping it!" the post reads.
The same claim appears here, here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
President Bola Tinubu signed four new tax reform bills into law in June 2025, a significant milestone in the administration's tax reform efforts. The federal government said the laws will take effect on 1 January 2026.
One of the new laws, the Nigeria Tax Act, prescribes new tax rates. But does it say those earning N800,000 or more a year will pay 20% tax? We checked.
Tax rate varied for different income groups
The Nigeria Tax Act stipulates a different tax rate for different income brackets. It states that a 0% tax rate applies to the first N800,000 in annual personal income.
That is after a rent relief of 20% of the annual rent paid has been applied (or N500,000, whichever is lower).
Other personal income tax rates in the new law are:
- next N2,200,000 at 15%;
- next N9,000,000 at 18%;
- next N13,000,000 at 21%;
- next N25,000,000 at 23%; and
- above N50,000,000 at 25%.
This means those earning between N800,000 and N3 million will pay 15%; between N3 million and N12 million, 18%; between N12 million and N25 million, 21%; between N25 million and N50 million, 23%; and those earning above N50 million, 25%.
Our factsheet on the tax reforms provides clearer details of the tax rates that will take effect from 1 January 2026.
The claim, which suggests a single tax rate, misrepresents the law, and the claim that Nigerians earning N800,00 or more in a year will pay 20% in tax is false.
The same claim was found here, here, here, here and here.
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