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The short answer
Money a relative abroad sends you as a gift or family support is not income under Nigerian tax law, so there is no income tax on receiving it; under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 gains on gifted assets are listed as exempt. What can be taxed is income: if you are a Nigerian tax resident, pay for work, freelance fees and business profits are taxable wherever they are earned. The only routine charge on a gift is the ₦50 stamp duty the sender pays on electronic transfers of ₦10,000 or more.
The short answer: gifts are not income
Nigerian personal income tax is charged on income: money from employment, a trade or business, and investments such as rent, interest and dividends. A sibling in Manchester paying your rent, a daughter in Houston sending money for food, or an uncle in Toronto covering school fees is none of those things. It is a transfer of money between family members, not payment for anything, so it does not become part of your chargeable income.
The Nigeria Tax Act 2025, in force from 1 January 2026, also lists gains on assets given or received as gifts (other than through inheritance) among exempt gains, according to a Mondaq summary of the Act published on 5 January 2026. That covers the capital-gains side: if someone gifts you a car or shares, the gift itself does not create a taxable gain for you.
When money from abroad is taxable
The question changes when the money is payment for something. Under the 2025 Act a Nigerian tax resident is taxed on income from all sources, "irrespective of the country where they may arise", as PwC's Worldwide Tax Summaries puts it (reviewed 29 May 2026). BusinessDay's explainer of 12 January 2026 makes the same point for overseas freelance income. So these are taxable if you are resident:
- Salary from a foreign employer for work you do while living in Nigeria.
- Fees from foreign clients for freelance, design, writing or software work.
- Profit from a business that sells abroad.
- Rent from a property you own abroad, and interest or dividends on foreign accounts or shares, subject to the exemption below.
There is one exemption residents often miss. The Mondaq summary says foreign dividends, interest, rent and royalties are exempt if they are earned abroad and brought into Nigeria through approved channels, meaning regulated banks and licensed money transfer operators. Keep the bank or transfer records that show the route.
Who counts as resident
You are a Nigerian tax resident if any one of several tests applies, including spending 183 days or more in Nigeria in any 12-month period, having a permanent home available to you here, or having substantial economic or immediate family ties here (PwC). Our guide to the 183-day residency rule walks through each test.
Gift or income? A quick test
| Money received | Usual treatment | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly support from a parent abroad | Not income | No work or asset produced it |
| School fees paid by an aunt in the UK | Not income | A gift, even if paid to the school |
| $800 from a US client for a logo | Taxable if you are resident | Payment for services |
| Salary from a remote foreign employer | Taxable if you are resident | Employment income |
| Interest on your own savings abroad | Exempt if brought in through approved channels | Investment income exemption |
The label on the transfer does not decide the question; the facts do. A client payment marked "gift" is still a fee, and a gift sent by a remittance app is still a gift.
Worked example
Example only. Amaka lives in Enugu. Her brother in London sends ₦150,000 a month for their mother's upkeep, and she also earns ₦4,000,000 a year from foreign design clients. The ₦1,800,000 a year from her brother is not income and stays outside her tax return. The ₦4,000,000 of client fees is income. Using the bands reported by BusinessDay (first ₦800,000 at 0%, the next ₦2,200,000 at 15%, the next ₦9,000,000 at 18%), tax before any deductions would be: ₦0 on the first ₦800,000, ₦330,000 on the next ₦2,200,000, and ₦180,000 on the remaining ₦1,000,000, a total of ₦510,000. Allowable expenses and reliefs would reduce the figure; she files with the tax authority of the state she lives in.
The 2026 tax bands and our piece on freelancers' dollar income go into the detail.
Charges that are not income tax
From 1 January 2026 the old electronic money transfer levy was replaced by a ₦50 stamp duty on electronic transfers of ₦10,000 or more, charged to the sender, with transfers below ₦10,000 and some own-account transfers exempt (Kuda's help notice, modified 5 January 2026). That is a transaction duty, not a tax on the gift. Remittance providers also charge their own fees and set their own exchange rates, which are shown before the sender pays.
Large or frequent transfers
None of this means large gifts go unnoticed. Banks run their own checks on unusual account activity, and a bank may ask where a large deposit came from before it releases or accepts it. That is a compliance question, not a tax bill. A short explanation and the sender's transfer receipt usually settle it. If a relative abroad is paying for something big, such as land or a car, it can help to have them pay the seller directly, or to keep a message from them stating that the money is a gift.
What to keep
- Transfer receipts or bank alerts showing who sent the money.
- A note of what regular support is for, especially if amounts are large.
- Separate records for client or employer payments, so gifts and income never mix.
Where Pryme fits
A Pryme Personal Account holds NGN, USD, GBP and EUR, so family support can arrive and stay in the currency it was sent in. Keeping gifts and client income in separate balances makes records cleaner, and you can generate a verifiable statement with VerifyDoc.ai if a tax office or lender asks for proof of what came in.
Questions people ask
Do I pay tax on money my family sends me from abroad?
No. Family support and gifts are not income under Nigerian tax law, so there is no income tax on receiving them. The sender pays ₦50 stamp duty on electronic transfers of ₦10,000 or more.
Is there a limit on gifts I can receive from abroad tax-free?
The sources we checked set no income tax limit on gifts of money. Very large or unusual sums may prompt questions from your bank, so keep records showing who sent the money and why.
Do I pay tax on dollars from foreign clients?
Yes, if you are a Nigerian tax resident. Fees from foreign clients are income from services, taxable at personal income tax rates wherever they are paid.
Will my bank deduct tax from money sent from abroad?
Banks do not deduct income tax from incoming gifts. The ₦50 stamp duty on transfers of ₦10,000 or more is charged to the sender, not to you.
Sources
- Mondaq: Understanding personal income tax under the Nigerian Tax Act 2025 (5 Jan 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Nigeria, Individual - Residence (reviewed 29 May 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- BusinessDay: Who is required to pay personal income tax in Nigeria under the 2026 reforms? (12 Jan 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Kuda Help: An important update about stamp duty (modified 5 Jan 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.