The federal government has mandated banks and other financial institutions to report monthly financial transactions exceeding N25 million for individuals and N100 million for corporate entities to the tax authorities.
This directive is part of new provisions under the Nigerian Tax Act, which now requires financial institutions to submit quarterly returns to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)—soon to be renamed the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) beginning January 2026, when the revised tax regime takes full effect.
According to the Act:
“Any person required to deduct and remit taxes under this or any other tax law must render monthly returns to the appropriate tax authority, as specified by regulation.”
It further states that:
“Notwithstanding section 142, banks, insurance companies, stockbroking firms, and other financial institutions must prepare and submit quarterly returns to the relevant tax authority. These must include the names and addresses of new and existing customers with:
Cumulative monthly transactions of N25 million or more (individuals), or
Cumulative monthly transactions of N100 million or more (corporate bodies).”
Prior to this update, financial institutions were only required to report deposits of N5 million and above as part of existing measures to curb illicit financial flows.
Experts say the new thresholds are part of broader efforts to improve anti-money laundering compliance and reinforce oversight in the financial system. Nigeria was placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in 2023 for deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks.
Since then, Nigeria has been working to meet FATF standards. In November 2024, Hafsat Bakari, CEO of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), announced that the country had made progress on five key FATF recommendations.
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