Retained profit after CIT and the levy.
Profit after tax
—
Total tax
—
Effective rate
—
Retained share
—
Your breakdown
Updates live as you type| Item | Amount |
|---|
From assessable profit to what the company keeps
Profit after tax is the figure a company can actually use, whether to pay dividends, build reserves, or reinvest. Getting there in Nigeria means clearing two charges on assessable profit: Companies Income Tax and the Development Levy. This tool starts from your pre-tax profit, decides whether you qualify as a small company, applies both charges if you do not, and reports what is left along with the effective rate and the share you retain.
The crucial fork is the small-company test, because it changes the answer dramatically. A company that meets the test pays nothing on either charge. A company that does not pays both. There is no longer a middle "medium company" rate; the structure the calculator models is two-tier, all or nothing.
The two-part test that decides everything
To count as a small company under the regime this tool applies, a business must satisfy both conditions at once: annual turnover at or below NGN 50 million, and total fixed assets at or below NGN 250 million. Both, not either. A startup with NGN 40 million of turnover but NGN 400 million of plant and equipment fails on the asset test and is taxed as a large company. Cross either ceiling and the full charges apply to your assessable profit, not just to the excess. The rates the calculator applies are 30 percent for Companies Income Tax and 4 percent for the Development Levy, with small companies at zero on both. Because the 2025 reform left the door open to a future reduction in the headline CIT rate, confirm the current rate and thresholds with the FIRS before you rely on them.
It is worth knowing what the Development Levy replaced. It rolls several older imposts, the Tertiary Education Tax, the information-technology levy, and others, into a single 4 percent charge on assessable profit. So the combined drag on a large company's profit, as modelled here, is the 30 percent CIT plus the 4 percent levy, for 34 percent before any tax on dividends paid out.
A large company keeping two thirds
Consider a company with pre-tax profit of NGN 50,000,000, turnover of NGN 200,000,000, and fixed assets of NGN 120,000,000. The turnover already exceeds the NGN 50 million ceiling, so it is a large company regardless of the asset figure. Companies Income Tax at 30 percent is NGN 15,000,000. The Development Levy at 4 percent is NGN 2,000,000. Total tax is NGN 17,000,000, the company keeps NGN 33,000,000, the effective rate is 34 percent, and the retained share is 66 percent. These use the rates this calculator applies.
What this figure does not yet include
Profit after tax here is the company-level number. If you then distribute it as dividends, a separate withholding tax applies on the payout, so the cash a shareholder finally pockets is lower again. This tool deliberately stops at the company line, because that is the figure you reinvest or carry to reserves. A frequent mistake among founders is to treat retained profit as personal take-home; it is not, until it is distributed and the dividend tax is settled. If you are close to the small-company ceilings, watch them across the whole year, since a strong final quarter can tip turnover over NGN 50 million and convert a zero-tax year into a 34 percent one. Confirm your status and the current rates with the FIRS.
Do losses or capital allowances change this?
Yes. This tool works from assessable profit, the figure after capital allowances, allowable deductions, and any brought-forward losses have already been applied. If your accounting profit and your assessable profit differ, enter the assessable figure, not the book profit. Getting that base right matters more than the rate, because both charges sit on it.
Is the Development Levy charged even if CIT is zero?
For a small company, no. The same turnover and asset thresholds that zero out Companies Income Tax also exempt the company from the Development Levy, so a qualifying small company keeps its full profit. For everyone above the thresholds, both charges apply together. Verify the current threshold figures with the FIRS, as the 2025 reform is still settling several numbers.