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The short answer
Under the Stamp Duties Act, a receipt for money of four naira or more was dutiable, with the stamp cancelled by the person who gave the receipt. Since 1 January 2026, the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 applies a one-off ₦50 stamp duty to electronic transfers of ₦10,000 or more, paid by the sender, which replaced the electronic money transfer levy. How the new Act treats paper receipts was not confirmed on a primary source we could read, so check with the tax authority before relying on either view.
Two different charges that share one name
When Nigerians talk about stamp duty on receipts, they usually mean one of two things. The first is the old rule that a written receipt for money had to carry a duty stamp. The second is the ₦50 charge that banks and fintechs take on larger electronic transfers. They came from the same law, but they work differently, and the second has changed hands twice in six years.
The receipt rule in the Stamp Duties Act
The Stamp Duties Act defined a receipt as any note or writing acknowledging money "amounting to four naira or upwards", and allowed the duty on a receipt to be denoted by an adhesive stamp. Under section 89(2), the stamp was to be cancelled "by the person by whom the receipt is given". In practice that put the duty on the seller or service provider who issued the receipt, not on the customer.
The Finance Act 2019 rewrote section 89 to include electronic inscriptions, bringing electronic receipts into scope. The Finance Act 2020 then added section 89A, which set a single, one-off duty of ₦50 on electronic transfers of ₦10,000 and above. That charge became known as the electronic money transfer levy (EMTL). Transfers between accounts of the same owner in the same bank were not chargeable. These points come from a 2025 journal review of stamp duty collection listed in our sources.
What changed on 1 January 2026
From 1 January 2026, under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, the EMTL was replaced by a ₦50 stamp duty on electronic transfers of ₦10,000 or more (or the foreign currency equivalent). The main practical change is who pays it.
| Point | EMTL (to 31 Dec 2025) | Stamp duty on transfers (from 1 Jan 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | ₦50 | ₦50 |
| Applies to | Electronic receipts/transfers of ₦10,000 and above | Electronic transfers of ₦10,000 and above |
| Charged to | The receiver | The sender |
| Common exemptions | Same-owner transfers in the same bank | Below ₦10,000, salary payments, transfers between your own accounts at the same provider |
These details are taken from Kuda's help centre notice and from TechCabal's December 2025 report; individual providers word the exemptions slightly differently, so check your own bank's notice.
Why the switch matters to businesses that receive transfers
Under the EMTL, a shop or service business that received hundreds of transfers of ₦10,000 or more each month saw ₦50 taken from each one, which added up and complicated reconciliation, because the amount landing was not the amount invoiced. With the duty now on the sender, the full invoiced amount should arrive. What changes instead is your own outgoing side: when you pay suppliers by transfer of ₦10,000 or more, your provider now takes ₦50 from you on each one, unless an exemption applies. Salary payments are listed as exempt in the provider notices we read, which matters if you run payroll.
So which receipts need a stamp today?
This is where we have to be careful. The ₦50 transfer charge is collected automatically by the bank or fintech and remitted to government; you do not stamp anything. The open question is whether a business that hands a customer a paper or PDF receipt for a cash or card sale still has a separate duty to stamp it, and at what threshold, under the 2025 Act. We could not open a primary text or tax authority guidance that answers this directly, so we are not going to guess a threshold.
- If you are paid by transfer, the duty on that transfer is handled by the sender's provider. Your receipt does not attract a second ₦50 from you because of the transfer.
- If you issue receipts for cash sales, ask the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) or your state internal revenue service whether a receipt stamp applies and at what amount.
- Agreements, leases and share documents are separate dutiable instruments with their own rules; this article covers receipts only.
A worked example of the transfer charge
Example only. A caterer is paid three amounts by transfer in one week: ₦8,500, ₦45,000 and ₦120,000. The customer who sent ₦8,500 pays no stamp duty, because it is below ₦10,000. The customers who sent ₦45,000 and ₦120,000 each pay ₦50, a total of ₦100, taken from their side. Before 2026, under the EMTL, the caterer would have seen ₦100 deducted from the incoming amounts instead. The caterer's own receipts for the three jobs are ordinary business records.
What to check first
- Your bank or provider's stamp duty notice, for its exact exemptions.
- Whether your state revenue service expects receipts for cash sales to be stamped.
- That your receipts show date, amount, payer and what was paid for, so they work as records whatever the duty position. See our guide to receipts for cash sales and invoice vs receipt.
This is general information, not tax advice.
Where Pryme fits
Any Pryme customer can generate a regular or a verifiable receipt or statement through our partner VerifyDoc.ai, and anyone can check that a verifiable one is genuine and unaltered. That does not change your stamp duty position; it gives you a cleaner record. See receipts and what a verifiable receipt is.
Questions people ask
Who pays the ₦50 stamp duty on transfers now?
From 1 January 2026 the sender pays, on electronic transfers of ₦10,000 or more. Under the old EMTL the receiver paid.
Do I need to stamp a receipt I give a customer?
Under the old Stamp Duties Act, receipts of four naira or more were dutiable and the giver cancelled the stamp. We could not confirm how the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 treats paper receipts, so ask the NRS or your state revenue service.
Is stamp duty charged on transfers below ₦10,000?
No. Transfers below ₦10,000 are exempt, according to the provider notices we read.
Is EMTL still charged in 2026?
No. Providers' notices say the EMTL was replaced on 1 January 2026 by a ₦50 stamp duty on electronic transfers of ₦10,000 or more, charged to the sender.
Sources
- Asomadu, The Quagmire of Stamp Duties Collection in Nigeria, NAU.JCPL 12(3) 2025 · accessed Oct 2026
- Kuda Help: An important update about stamp duty (Jan 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- TechCabal: Why your N50,000 transfer will cost N100 from 2026 (22 Dec 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.