AI agents for business finance: what they can and can't do
What AI agents can do in bookkeeping, close, collections and compliance today, where a person must stay in charge, and how to judge a product.
The short answer
A Nigerian business statement usually carries three kinds of small debit besides your own payments: the bank's fee, 7.5% VAT on that fee only, and, from 1 January 2026, a ₦50 stamp duty on each electronic transfer of ₦10,000 or more that you send. Post the fee to bank charges, the VAT to input VAT or bank charges depending on your VAT position, and the stamp duty to a separate statutory charges account so each line can be checked against its rule.
If you run a Nigerian company from London, Houston or Toronto, the monthly bank statement is often the first document your bookkeeper sends you, and the last one anyone reads closely. The large lines are easy: supplier payments, salaries, customer receipts. The trouble sits in the dozens of small debits that never match an invoice. Left unreconciled, they turn into a suspense balance that grows every month and makes the year-end audit slower and more expensive. This guide sets out each line type you are likely to see, the rule behind it and a sensible way to post it.
The line types on a Nigerian business statement
Banks label these lines differently, so match them by amount and pattern rather than by wording. Most fall into one of five groups.
| Line type | What drives it | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer or service fee | The bank's own price for a transfer, USSD session, card, statement or similar service | The bank's tariff, within the CBN Guide to Charges |
| VAT on the fee | 7.5% of the fee, never of the amount transferred | Nigeria Tax Act 2025; NRS statement, Jan 2026 |
| Stamp duty on transfers | ₦50 per electronic transfer of ₦10,000 or more, charged to the sender from 1 Jan 2026 | Nigeria Tax Act 2025, as applied by banks and fintechs |
| Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) | ₦50 on qualifying inflows, on statements before 2026 | Replaced by the sender-side stamp duty from 1 Jan 2026 |
| Cash handling charges | Withdrawals above the weekly limits | CBN cash circular effective 1 Jan 2026 |
Bank fees and the Guide to Charges
The fee itself is set by each bank, inside the CBN's Guide to Charges. Nairametrics reported in April 2026 that a new 2026 Guide was still an exposure draft, and we could not confirm in October 2026 that it had been adopted in final form. In practice, ask your relationship manager for the current tariff sheet each January and keep it with your accounting records, so a fee that changes mid-year has a document behind it.
VAT on bank fees
In January 2026 the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) responded to public alarm about VAT on banking. Its spokesperson, as reported by Daily Trust, said VAT is charged only on the bank's fee and "is not, and has never been, charged on the amount of money a customer transfers or withdraws". The NRS example was a ₦50 service charge on a transfer carrying ₦3.75 of VAT, alongside stamp duty. Interest on savings and fixed deposits is not a taxable supply. So a VAT line should always be 7.5% of a fee line next to it; if it is not, query it.
Stamp duty on transfers, and the old EMTL
From 1 January 2026, banks and fintechs began charging a flat ₦50 stamp duty to the person sending an electronic transfer of ₦10,000 or more. Kuda's business help centre and Techeconomy's report of a FirstBank notice describe the same exemptions: transfers below ₦10,000, salary payments, and transfers between your own accounts at the same institution. Before 2026 the equivalent ₦50 was the EMTL, usually taken from the receiver. So statements for 2025 show the charge on money coming in; statements from January 2026 show it on money going out.
Cash handling charges
Daily Trust reported a CBN circular effective 1 January 2026 that removed the cumulative cash deposit limit and its fee, and set weekly withdrawal limits of ₦500,000 for individuals and ₦5 million for corporates, with 3% and 5% charges on the excess. A company account that withdraws above ₦5 million in a week should expect a 5% line on the excess.
How to post each line
- Bank fees: post to a bank charges expense account, one per bank if you hold several, so you can compare banks.
- VAT on fees: if your company is VAT-registered and makes taxable supplies, Forvis Mazars notes that from 1 January 2026 input VAT on services used for taxable supplies can be claimed, within five years. Post it to input VAT, keeping the statement as evidence. If you are a small business exempt from VAT, or make exempt supplies, post it to bank charges with the fee.
- Stamp duty: post to a statutory charges or stamp duty account, not bank charges. It is a government levy, and keeping it apart lets you test it: the count of these lines should equal the number of qualifying outward transfers.
- EMTL on 2025 statements: same account as stamp duty, with a note of the period.
- Cash handling charges: bank charges, with a memo, because they usually signal a control issue worth raising with the manager in Nigeria.
A worked example
Example only. In a month your Lagos company sends 40 supplier transfers, each above ₦10,000, and the bank's fee is ₦50 per transfer (an assumed figure; check your own tariff).
| Line | Per transfer | 40 transfers |
|---|---|---|
| Bank fee (assumed) | ₦50.00 | ₦2,000.00 |
| VAT at 7.5% of fee | ₦3.75 | ₦150.00 |
| Stamp duty | ₦50.00 | ₦2,000.00 |
| Total small debits | ₦103.75 | ₦4,150.00 |
Your reconciliation test is simple: 40 outward transfers should give 40 fee lines, 40 VAT lines of 7.5% each and 40 stamp duty lines. A 41st stamp duty line points to a transfer you have not recorded; a missing one may mean a transfer was coded as salary or own-account.
What to check first each month
- Count qualifying outward transfers of ₦10,000 or more and compare with stamp duty lines.
- Check every VAT line equals 7.5% of a fee line.
- Compare fees against the tariff sheet on file.
- Look for cash withdrawal charges and ask why the limit was exceeded.
- Clear the suspense account to nil, with a note for anything unexplained.
For a business that also holds pounds, dollars or euros, the same discipline applies to each currency, and our guide to keeping multicurrency books covers how to keep the ledgers apart. If your company may be under the VAT small-business threshold, the Nigeria library explains when a small business has to charge VAT.
Where Pryme fits
A Pryme Business account can be opened from abroad and holds NGN, USD, GBP and EUR. The Finance agent prepares a monthly match of statement lines to transactions and flags anything that does not fit a rule; a person reviews and approves, and its actions are recorded. Statements can be issued as verifiable documents for your auditor. The app shows each charge before you approve a payment.
Questions people ask
Who pays the ₦50 stamp duty on transfers in Nigeria now?
From 1 January 2026, the sender pays on electronic transfers of ₦10,000 or more. Before that, the ₦50 EMTL was usually taken from the receiver.
Is VAT charged on the money I transfer?
No. The NRS said in January 2026 that VAT applies only to the bank's fee, at 7.5%, not to the amount transferred or withdrawn.
Are salary payments charged stamp duty?
Banks and fintechs, including Kuda and FirstBank as reported, list salary payments among the exemptions, with transfers below ₦10,000 and own-account transfers.
Can my company reclaim VAT on bank charges?
If it is VAT-registered and the fees relate to taxable supplies, input VAT on services became claimable from 1 January 2026. Check your position with your tax adviser.
Sources
- Daily Trust via AllAfrica: NRS moves to quell VAT panic over banking charges (21 Jan 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Kuda Business help: Stamp duty on transfers, Nigeria Tax Act 2025 (31 Dec 2025) · accessed Oct 2026
- Techeconomy: Stamp duty replaces EMTL, sender to bear ₦50 charge (1 Jan 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Daily Trust: CBN ends cash deposit limits, raises weekly withdrawals (3 Dec 2025) · accessed Oct 2026
- Forvis Mazars: 2025 NTA VAT key business changes (16 Mar 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Nairametrics: CBN Guide to Charges 2026 exposure draft (23 Apr 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.