Nigeria's upcoming finance bill includes language letting the government tax crypto exchanges

According to a report, provisions in a Nigerian finance bill that seeks to amend the country's various tax statutes allow the government to tax transactions involving cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

Reports indicate Nigeria is looking to join the ranks of the six other countries (two of which are also in Africa) that tax transactions involving digital assets.

Increasing Profits From E-Commerce Transactions

Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed has stated that they will include provisions for taxing cryptocurrency and other digital currency transactions in Nigeria's 2022 finance bill, which aims to amend excise and duty statutes.

According to Ahmed, the taxation of such transactions is consistent with the Nigerian government's broader goal of extracting more revenue from e-commerce transactions.

When Nigeria taxes cryptocurrency transactions, it will join other African nations like South Africa and Kenya, as reported by The Cable. The report also mentions Australia, India, the UK, and the US as countries that impose taxes on digital asset transactions.

In a web-based meeting, Ahmed made the following remarks about the proposed legislation:

Also, the bill contains an amendment under Chargeable Assets stating that ‘subject to any exceptions provided by this Act,’ all forms of property shall be assets for this Act, whether situated in Nigeria or not, including options, debts, digital assets, and incorporeal property generally.

The governors of Sokoto, Borno, Kaduna, Kebbi, and Ogun are said to have offered their thoughts on the bill after Ahmed had finished her presentation.

It has been reported that they have incorporated their suggestions into the draft bill that must be submitted to the Federal Executive Council.

The next stop is the Nigerian parliament.