Corporate tax and levy actually payable.
Total tax payable
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Company income tax
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Development levy
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Effective rate
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Your breakdown
Updates live as you type| On NGN 50m profit | Current 30% rate | Future 25% rate |
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The headline rate is not the bill
Ask most people what a large Nigerian company pays in tax and they will say 30 percent. That is the Companies Income Tax rate, and it is correct as far as it goes. But it is not the cheque the company writes. On top of CIT sits a separate Development Levy charged on assessable profit, and this calculator adds the two together so you see the total tax actually payable, not just the headline number that gets quoted in the press.
This tool is for finance leads, founders and anyone modelling what a company keeps after the revenue service has taken its share. It also lets you stress-test the future, because the reform allows the company rate to be cut, and you can toggle the calculator between the current rate and that lower scenario. As ever with a reform still phasing in, treat these as the figures the tool models and confirm the rates in force for your accounting year with the FIRS.
One levy that replaced four
The Development Levy is tidier than what came before it. Under the old system a company juggled several separate charges: a tertiary education tax, an information technology development levy, a science and engineering agency levy, and a police trust fund levy, each with its own rate and rules. The reform folded all of those into a single Development Levy on assessable profit, charged at the rate this calculator applies, 4 percent. Small companies are outside its scope, just as they are outside CIT. So the simplification is real, but for a large company the levy is a genuine addition to the tax bill, not a rounding error.
Why your effective rate reads 34 percent, not 30
Here is the number that surprises people. Take the default: NGN 50 million of assessable profit at a turnover and asset level that makes the company large. CIT at 30 percent is NGN 15 million. The Development Levy at 4 percent is another NGN 2 million. Total tax payable is NGN 17 million, which is 34 percent of profit, not 30. The four points of levy quietly lift the effective rate above the headline, and a company that budgets only for 30 percent will come up short. Now flip the scenario toggle to the future 25 percent rate. CIT falls to NGN 12.5 million, the levy stays at NGN 2 million, and the total drops to NGN 14.5 million, an effective rate of 29 percent.
The shaded base of each bar is the Development Levy, identical in both scenarios because the levy rate does not change when CIT falls. Only the tall CIT portion shrinks under the future rate. That visual is worth keeping in mind: the levy is a fixed floor on the company tax bill regardless of what happens to the headline rate.
Where small companies sit
If your turnover and fixed assets keep the company inside the small-company definition, the calculator returns zero. No CIT, no Development Levy, an effective rate of zero. The levy rides on the same small-company exemption as the income tax, so a qualifying small company genuinely escapes both. The cliff edge matters here too: cross into large-company territory and you pick up the full 30 percent plus the 4 percent levy in one step.
Is the Development Levy charged on revenue or on profit?
On assessable profit, the same base as Companies Income Tax, not on turnover. That is why both charges move together in the calculation. A loss-making year produces no assessable profit and therefore no levy.
When will the 25 percent rate actually apply?
The reform allows the company rate to be reduced by presidential order, so the lower rate is a possibility built into the law rather than a fixed calendar date. The toggle lets you plan for it, but until an order takes effect the current rate stands. Confirm the position for your filing year with the FIRS.
Does this figure include minimum effective tax rules for very large groups?
No. Very large companies and multinational groups can face a separate minimum effective tax top-up under rules aimed at big turnover thresholds. This calculator models CIT plus the Development Levy for an ordinary company and does not apply that top-up, so the largest groups should take specialist advice.