Nigeria’s gaming operators began 2026 under a tax regime that finally answers questions they had been asking for years — and raises a few new ones. The Tax Act 2025, signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on 26 June 2025 and effective from 1 January 2026, settles how value-added tax applies to bets while confirming that operator profits remain fully taxable. For a sector projected to grow from roughly $2 billion to $5 billion in annual contribution by 2027, the fine print matters.
VAT clarity, but corporate tax stays
The headline relief is procedural. Under Section 185(m), the Act exempts money, stakes or securities from VAT, and defines a “stake” as the amount wagered on a game — making clear that player wagers themselves are not taxed. That removes an ambiguity that had left operators unsure whether the standard 7.5% VAT applied to turnover passing between players and the platform.
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