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The short answer
Stamp duty is a tax on written instruments, and loan agreements, mortgages, charges and debentures are among the documents lenders treat as stampable; the borrower usually bears the cost because the agreement says so. The National Collateral Registry's own filing form has a stamp duty exemption box, which shows the duty is handled at the point a security document is registered. We could not confirm the current rate from an official page as at Oct 2026, so check the figure on your offer letter against the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) before you sign.
Why a stamp duty line is on your loan offer
Many borrowers first meet stamp duty as a single line on an offer letter or a key terms page, sitting between the processing fee and the insurance premium. It is not a lender's fee. Stamp duty is a tax charged on certain written or electronic documents, and a loan agreement, a mortgage, a legal charge over land, a debenture over a company's assets or a guarantee can all fall within it. The lender collects the money from you and pays it to the tax authority when the document is stamped.
Stamping matters to the lender for a practical reason. A security document that has not been properly stamped can run into difficulty when the lender tries to rely on it in court or register it. That is why banks and microfinance banks insist on it for secured lending, and why the line appears even when the amount looks small.
Which loan documents are usually stampable
The detail depends on the document and on the stamp duty rules in force when you sign. As a general guide, these are the documents a Nigerian lender will most often treat as needing stamps:
- A loan or facility agreement, especially for larger bank and microfinance bank loans.
- A mortgage or legal charge over land or a house, which also needs the Governor's consent in most states.
- A debenture or charge over a company's assets, which is also registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
- A deed of guarantee signed by a guarantor.
- A security document over movable assets such as vehicles, equipment or stock, registered at the National Collateral Registry.
The National Collateral Registry is a useful clue to how this works in practice. Its How To guide, which sets out the steps a lender follows to file a financing statement over movable collateral, includes a step to tick a box and add a comment where the filing is claiming a stamp duty exemption. In other words, stamp duty is considered at the point the security interest is recorded, and some filings may be exempt.
What about small loan app loans?
Short digital loans are usually agreed on screen. Whether an app charges a separate stamp duty line varies; many do not show one. If you do see it, it should appear in the terms shown before you accept. The FCCPC's 2025 digital lending regulations require that fees and repayment terms are fully disclosed to consumers before any transaction is completed (Regulation 17(a)), so a stamp duty charge that only appears after disbursement is worth querying.
Who pays: borrower or lender
In law the person liable for stamp duty depends on the instrument, but loan agreements almost always contain a clause making the borrower responsible for all taxes, duties and registration costs connected with the facility. That clause is why the duty comes out of your disbursement or is added to the amount you repay. It is a contractual choice, so it is worth reading the costs clause before you sign, particularly on secured loans where registration fees, legal fees and valuation fees can sit alongside the duty.
The rate: what we could and could not confirm
We did not find an official page, opened in October 2026, that states the current stamp duty rate for loan agreements and security documents. Nigeria's tax laws have been reorganised and the Federal Inland Revenue Service has become the Nigeria Revenue Service, so older rates quoted on blogs may no longer apply. Rather than repeat a figure we cannot source, here is how to check the one you are being charged.
- Ask the lender which document the duty is being charged on and what rate or flat amount it is using.
- Ask whether the rate is applied to the loan amount, the secured amount, or a fixed sum per document.
- Check the current rule on the NRS website or with a tax adviser, and ask the lender for the stamping receipt or the stamped copy after signing.
- Keep the stamped copy with your loan file. You may need it if you dispute anything later.
Worked example: checking a charge on your offer
Example only. Suppose your offer letter for a ₦2,000,000 secured loan shows a stamp duty line of ₦15,000. Divide the duty by the loan amount: ₦15,000 ÷ ₦2,000,000 = 0.0075, or 0.75%. You now have a percentage you can compare with the rule the lender says it is applying. If the lender says it is charging a flat sum, the percentage will not matter, but you should still see the same figure on the stamping receipt. If the numbers do not match, ask for an explanation in writing.
Adding stamp duty to the cost of your loan
Whatever the amount, stamp duty is part of what the loan costs you. When you compare two offers, add it to the interest, processing fee and insurance to get a total cost. Our guides on processing and management fees and APR versus flat fees show how to combine these into one figure, and what a lender must disclose before you sign covers the paperwork you should see first.
Where Pryme fits
Loans on Spaces are lent by Solid Allianze Microfinance Bank and the full agreement, including the amount, the cost and the repayment date, is shown before you accept. If any charge appears in that agreement, you see it there first. See how Loans on Spaces work.
Questions people ask
Is stamp duty on a loan agreement compulsory in Nigeria?
Stamp duty applies to stampable instruments under Nigerian tax law, and lenders treat loan and security documents as stampable. Some filings may be exempt, which is why the National Collateral Registry form has an exemption box. Ask your lender which rule it is applying.
Why did my bank deduct stamp duty from my loan?
Most loan agreements make the borrower responsible for taxes and duties on the facility, so the bank deducts the duty from disbursement or adds it to the repayment. It should be shown in your offer before you accept.
What is the stamp duty rate on a loan in Nigeria?
We could not confirm the current rate from an official source as at October 2026. Check with the Nigeria Revenue Service or a tax adviser, and ask the lender which rate it applied.
Can I ask for proof that stamp duty was paid?
Yes. Ask for the stamped copy of the document or the stamping receipt. Keep it with your loan papers.
Sources
- National Collateral Registry Nigeria: How To guide (search, payment, financing statements) · accessed Oct 2026
- FCCPC: Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025 (made 21 July 2025) · 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.