The rent relief in Nigeria's 2025 Tax Act is a tenant benefit — it reduces what a renter owes, not what a landlord does. Its mirror image is that a landlord's rental income is taxable income in its own right. Here's exactly how it's computed.
A resident individual landlord's rental income is taxed as ordinary chargeable income — rent is its own charging category under NTA 2025 §4(1)(b), aggregated into total income under §28, then taxed at the same individual PIT bands PAYE uses (§58/Fourth Schedule). The first ₦800,000.00 of taxable income is tax-free, then 15% up to ₦3,000,000.00, 18% up to ₦12,000,000.00, 21% up to ₦25,000,000.00, 23% up to ₦50,000,000.00, 25% above ₦50,000,000.00. There's no separate rental-income schedule or basis.
A landlord's only income for the year is ₦3,000,000.00 in rent from a single let property. No deduction applies against this figure, so the full amount aggregates into total income and is taxed at the Fourth Schedule bands: the first ₦800,000.00 at 0%, the remaining ₦2,200,000.00 at 15%, for ₦330,000.00 total tax on the rental income. The tenant's 10% WHT (₦300,000.00) is an advance credit against this figure, not a separate final tax — the landlord owes the ₦30,000.00 balance when filing, not the full ₦330,000.00 again. No VAT applies either way.
The Act doesn't authorise deducting repairs, management fees, statutory rates, or insurance against gross rent received — its only general expense-deduction sections (§§20-21) are textually confined to trade, business, profession, or vocation income (§4(1)(a)), a separate charging limb from rent (§4(1)(b)). No parallel deduction section exists for a landlord's expenses, so the repairs/fees/rates/insurance list some guides publish as settled law isn't backed by the Act's own text.
If your income can't be properly ascertained, or your records aren't kept in a way that allows a proper assessment, the Act's general presumptive-tax regime (§29) may apply to you the same way it could to any taxpayer in that position — it isn't a landlord-specific relief, just the same general fallback everyone else in that situation could use.
See where that fallback would apply on TaxLane's Presumptive Tax calculator.
If your tenant deducted 10% withholding tax (WHT) before paying you, that's an advance credit against what you owe above — not a separate final tax, and not an extra cost on top of it. See it computed on TaxLane's WHT calculator.
Rent is VAT-exempt, unconditionally — NTA 2025 §186(1)(l) exempts land or building, including any interest in land or building, with no residential-vs-commercial qualifier. Whether you let a home or a shop, you don't register for or remit VAT on the rent you receive.
Rent/royalties — taxable if the underlying property/right is located or exploited in Nigeria — §4(1)(b). You owe Nigeria tax on that rent regardless of where you live. See what "Japa" means for your Nigerian tax obligations for the fuller residency picture.
Renting through a registered company instead? A company's rental income is simply pooled into its total profits from all sources and taxed at the general CIT rate (§27/§56) — no separate provision singles out a company landlord. Check your company's own liability with TaxLane's CIT calculator instead of this guide.
Already had WHT deducted from your rent? See the credit computed with TaxLane's WHT calculator.
A resident individual landlord's rental income is taxed as ordinary chargeable income — rent is its own charging category under NTA 2025 §4(1)(b), aggregated into total income under §28, then taxed at the same individual PIT bands PAYE uses (§58/Fourth Schedule). The first ₦800,000.00 of taxable income is tax-free, then 15% up to ₦3,000,000.00, 18% up to ₦12,000,000.00, 21% up to ₦25,000,000.00, 23% up to ₦50,000,000.00, 25% above ₦50,000,000.00. There's no separate rental-income schedule or basis.
The Act doesn't authorise deducting repairs, management fees, statutory rates, or insurance against gross rent received — its only general expense-deduction sections (§§20-21) are textually confined to trade, business, profession, or vocation income (§4(1)(a)), a separate charging limb from rent (§4(1)(b)). No parallel deduction section exists for a landlord's expenses, so the repairs/fees/rates/insurance list some guides publish as settled law isn't backed by the Act's own text.
No — for guidance only, not tax advice.