The popular assumption is that relocating abroad — Japa — means you stop owing Nigeria tax. Under Nigeria's 2025 Tax Act, that's often not true: a home or family tie left behind in Nigeria can be enough on its own to keep you a Nigerian tax resident, regardless of how long you've been away.
Some commentary frames it as "almost no one qualifies as non-resident" once a home or immediate family stays behind in Nigeria — a fair read of how the test plays out in practice, though that specific phrase is commentary, not the Act's own wording. What the Act itself sets out is the six-factor test below, and it takes just one factor to keep you resident.
No, not automatically. Under NTA §202, you're a Nigerian tax resident if you meet just one of six factors: you're domiciled in Nigeria, have a home available for your domestic use in Nigeria, have a habitual abode in Nigeria, have substantial economic and immediate family ties in Nigeria, sojourn in Nigeria for 183 days or more in a 12-month period (inclusive of any annual leave or temporary absence, which counts toward that total rather than against it), or serve as a Nigerian diplomat abroad. You're only non-resident once every one of those six fails at the same time — so a home merely available for your use, or a spouse and children remaining in Nigeria, is enough on its own to keep you resident, regardless of how many days you spend abroad. Once you're a resident, NTA §12 taxes your income on a worldwide basis, wherever it arises and whether or not you bring it into Nigeria.
Answer these six questions to see where you stand.
NTA §202
Owned, rented, or otherwise available — not necessarily lived in.
NTA §202
NTA §202
NTA §202
Includes annual leave and temporary absences abroad — time away doesn't subtract from this count.
NTA §202
NTA §202
Confirmed non-residents still owe Nigeria tax on several income categories. Employment income for duties performed in Nigeria remains taxable under NTA §13(1)(b) if it's paid by a Nigeria-resident employer, borne by a Nigerian branch or permanent establishment of a non-resident employer, or not taxed in your country of residence — any one of those three gateways is enough, not just the last one, so income paid by a Nigeria-resident employer stays taxable even if it's also taxed abroad. Beyond employment income, a non-resident also owes tax on capital gains on Nigerian-situated assets such as property or shares in a Nigerian company (§17(2)), dividends from a Nigerian company via final withholding tax (§19(1)), interest where the payer is Nigeria-resident regardless of where you live (§4(6)(a)), and rent or royalties on Nigerian-situated property or rights (§4(1)(b)).
Some commentary claims Nigeria has no tax treaty with Canada, so there's nothing to negotiate a better outcome with — that's wrong. Nigeria's tax treaty with Canada has been in force since 16 November 1999, alongside its older treaty with the UK in force since 1988.
Usually not in full — it's a credit, not an exemption.
No — not if the treaty applies to you. Nigeria has a tax treaty with both the UK (in force since 1988) and Canada (in force since 16 November 1999, despite a popular claim that no Canada-Nigeria tax treaty exists) and both continue under NTA 2025 §121(5) without needing re-ratification. Both work the same way: credit-method relief (UK Article 22(3)(a), Canada Article 23(3)(a)) means Nigeria credits the UK or Canada tax you already paid on that income against your Nigerian tax on it, capped at the Nigerian tax attributable to that income, so you're not taxed twice in full — but if Nigeria's rate on that income is higher than the UK or Canada's, you still owe Nigeria the difference, since this is a credit, not an exemption. The credit is only available if you're a genuine UK/Canada tax resident with beneficial ownership of the income (NTA §121(7)) — merely spending time there isn't enough.
No treaty, but relief still exists both sides.
No tax treaty exists between Nigeria and the US — the IRS's own list of US tax treaties doesn't include Nigeria. That doesn't mean you're taxed twice with no relief, though: both countries offer a unilateral credit instead of a treaty one. On the US side, IRC §901's foreign tax credit lets you credit Nigerian tax paid against your US tax on the same income. On the Nigeria side, NTA 2025 §120 offers its own unilateral credit for tax already paid abroad. Neither is a treaty-based credit, so neither comes with treaty-specific protections like a guaranteed residency test — but relief isn't limited to treaty countries.
No credit from Nigeria — relief comes from abroad only.
If you're a confirmed non-resident with Nigeria-source income, Nigeria itself won't give you a credit for tax you paid abroad on that income — NTA §122(3) limits the Nigeria-side credit to people who were a Nigeria resident during the relevant year, and §120's unilateral credit carries the same resident-only gate. That's not the same as no relief existing at all: it just means relief in this case has to come entirely from the destination country's own credit mechanism — the UK/Canada treaty credit or the US's unilateral IRC §901 credit — not from Nigeria.
Residency is fact-specific and the stakes of getting it wrong are significant — confirm your own situation with a tax professional before relying on this guide for a filing decision.
Still a Nigerian tax resident? See what you'd owe on Nigerian-sourced income with TaxLane's PAYE calculator.
No — for guidance only, not tax advice.
No, not automatically. Under NTA §202, you're a Nigerian tax resident if you meet just one of six factors: you're domiciled in Nigeria, have a home available for your domestic use in Nigeria, have a habitual abode in Nigeria, have substantial economic and immediate family ties in Nigeria, sojourn in Nigeria for 183 days or more in a 12-month period (inclusive of any annual leave or temporary absence, which counts toward that total rather than against it), or serve as a Nigerian diplomat abroad. You're only non-resident once every one of those six fails at the same time — so a home merely available for your use, or a spouse and children remaining in Nigeria, is enough on its own to keep you resident, regardless of how many days you spend abroad. Once you're a resident, NTA §12 taxes your income on a worldwide basis, wherever it arises and whether or not you bring it into Nigeria.
Confirmed non-residents still owe Nigeria tax on several income categories. Employment income for duties performed in Nigeria remains taxable under NTA §13(1)(b) if it's paid by a Nigeria-resident employer, borne by a Nigerian branch or permanent establishment of a non-resident employer, or not taxed in your country of residence — any one of those three gateways is enough, not just the last one, so income paid by a Nigeria-resident employer stays taxable even if it's also taxed abroad. Beyond employment income, a non-resident also owes tax on capital gains on Nigerian-situated assets such as property or shares in a Nigerian company (§17(2)), dividends from a Nigerian company via final withholding tax (§19(1)), interest where the payer is Nigeria-resident regardless of where you live (§4(6)(a)), and rent or royalties on Nigerian-situated property or rights (§4(1)(b)).