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
If you live in Dubai and do all your work there for a Nigerian company, whether PAYE applies turns mainly on whether you are still tax resident in Nigeria under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025; residence can follow from a permanent home, family ties or 183 days in Nigeria, not only from where you sit. Pension is a separate question: the Pension Reform Act sets minimum contributions of 10% from the employer and 8% from the employee, and PenCom has published no rule we could find on staff working wholly abroad, so agree the position with your employer and PFA in writing.
More Nigerian companies now keep staff on payroll after they move to the UAE. The employee keeps the job, the company keeps the skills, and everyone assumes the payslip stays the same. Two questions usually arrive at the first payroll run: should the company still deduct PAYE, and should it keep paying into the employee's Retirement Savings Account? This guide explains how the rules are framed. It is information, not tax advice; a tax adviser should look at your facts.
PAYE starts with residence
Under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, which took effect on 1 January 2026, residents are taxed on worldwide income and non-residents only on income from Nigeria. PwC's summary of the residence rules (reviewed May 2026) says an individual is resident if any one of these applies:
- domiciled in Nigeria;
- a permanent home available for domestic use in Nigeria;
- place of habitual abode in Nigeria;
- at least 183 days in Nigeria in any 12-month period, counting temporary absences;
- substantial economic or immediate family ties in Nigeria;
- serving as a Nigerian diplomat abroad.
The list is wide. A Nigerian who moves to Dubai but keeps a family home in Lekki with a spouse and children living in it may still meet the permanent-home or family-ties tests. Someone who has moved with their family, rents out or sells the Nigerian home and spends little time in Nigeria is in a much stronger position to be treated as non-resident. Commentary on the Act notes that the ties test is not precisely defined, so the facts matter.
If you are non-resident
PwC's summary treats employment income as Nigerian where the employee is resident in Nigeria and the duties are performed wholly or partly in Nigeria. The NGEX diaspora guide on the NiDCOM site also says services physically performed outside Nigeria are not taxable unless the person is tax resident. On that reading, a non-resident doing all their work in Dubai is outside Nigerian PAYE, but any working trips to Lagos could bring part of the pay back into scope. Keep a record of days worked in Nigeria.
If you are still resident
PAYE continues. Streamsowers & Köhn's March 2026 overview explains that under the Act's Twelfth Schedule an employee is taxed by the State where they live on 1 January of the tax year, and an employee with no place of residence in any State is treated as in foreign employment, administered by the Nigeria Revenue Service. DLA Piper notes that pay in foreign currency is converted at the CBN official rate at the time it is paid when PAYE is worked out. See our Nigeria guide to PAYE bands for 2026 for the rates.
Pension: the Act's rates, and the gap
PenCom's FAQ (2023 edition) sets the minimum contribution at 18% of monthly emoluments: 10% from the employer and 8% from the employee, with the employer free to bear all of it. The scheme covers private organisations with three or more employees, and employers remit within seven working days of paying salaries. Nothing we found from PenCom deals with an employee who lives and works wholly abroad but stays on a Nigerian payroll.
In practice, many employers simply continue contributions to the employee's existing RSA. That keeps the record unbroken, and the RSA stays in the employee's name with their PFA. Some PFAs also run arrangements for Nigerians abroad: FCMB Pensions' cross-border note, for example, describes foreign-currency contributions paid into the PFA's domiciliary account, converted to naira on receipt and credited to the RSA, with the contributor bearing exchange charges. Ask your own PFA what it offers.
Worked example
Example only. Kemi's monthly emoluments with her Lagos employer are ₦1,500,000. At the minimum rates, she contributes 8%, ₦120,000, and the employer adds 10%, ₦150,000: ₦270,000 a month into her RSA. If she and her employer agree to continue after her move to Dubai, the same figures apply; if they stop, she loses ₦3,240,000 of contributions a year (₦270,000 × 12), plus the returns they would have earned.
What to agree in writing
- Your residence position, and the facts it rests on (home, family, days in Nigeria).
- Whether the employer will deduct PAYE, and to which authority.
- Whether pension contributions continue, at what rate, and who bears them.
- The currency of your pay and how it reaches you.
- A day count for any work trips to Nigeria.
For how the pay itself reaches you, see getting paid by a Nigerian employer while living in Dubai, and for the tax picture on the UAE side, Nigerian tax on a UAE salary.
Where Pryme fits
For employers, Pryme Business Accounts include payroll tools and a Finance agent that prepares runs for a person to approve. For employees, a Pryme personal account holds NGN and USD with local details, so salary can arrive in naira and stay in naira until you choose to convert.
Questions people ask
Do I pay PAYE in Nigeria if I work remotely from Dubai?
It depends on whether you are still tax resident in Nigeria. Residence can follow from a home, family ties or 183 days in Nigeria, not just from where you work.
Can my Nigerian employer keep paying my pension while I live in Dubai?
Many do, by continuing contributions to your RSA. PenCom has published no specific rule we found for staff working wholly abroad, so agree it in writing.
What are the pension contribution rates in Nigeria?
PenCom's FAQ sets a minimum of 10% from the employer and 8% from the employee of monthly emoluments.
Which tax office handles PAYE if I have no home in any Nigerian state?
Under the 2025 Act, as summarised by Streamsowers & Köhn, an employee with no place of residence in any State is treated as in foreign employment, administered by the Nigeria Revenue Service.
Sources
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Nigeria, individual residence (reviewed 29 May 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Mondaq (Streamsowers & Köhn): taxation of employment income under the Nigerian tax reform Acts (11 Mar 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- DLA Piper Africa: FAQs on payroll taxes and employer liability in Nigeria (28 Aug 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- PenCom: Frequently Asked Questions (2023 edition) · accessed Oct 2026
- FCMB Pensions: salient points for cross-border arrangement · accessed Oct 2026
- NGEX Diaspora Guide to Nigeria's tax reforms (on the NiDCOM site, 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.