The Federal Government of Nigeria has expressed hope that its expanded digital tax net will haul N230 billion in revenue by 2025.
If this projection comes to past, the country’s digital tax revenue will increase by 31.35 percent from the N175 billion target for 2024.
The revelation came from the 2025 – 2027 Medium Term Fiscal Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.
According to the paper, the expected revenue will be derived from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), introduced in the Finance Act 2020 as an amendment to the Stamp Duty Act.
It noted that the levy imposed a N50 charge on electronic receipts or transfers of N10,000 and above made through banks and financial institutions.
Although Nigerians kicked against it, but it has become enforceable as from September 2024 when the federal government extended EMTL to fintech operators such as Moniepoint, Opay, and Palmpay, tapping into a sector that processed transactions worth N46.91 trillion in 2023.
The new levy implementation started in December 2024.
The EMTL, targeting the boom of electronic transfers, generated N180.31 billion in revenue for the federal government in 2023, exceeding its N136.35 billion target by 29.45 percent.
Total EMTL for 2024 was N133.22 billion in August, and it has been on course to hit its N175bn target.
The Federal, State and Local Governments of the country are beneficiaries of the EMTL as the revenue is distributed among the tiers.
The growth of cashless transactions, driven by the increased adoption of digital financial services, has bolstered EMTL collections.
Poor Nigerians have been major sufferers of this initiative as they are positioned at the receiving end.
Though they enjoy the simplified transactions, however, the cost of it is debilitating.
From having to pay extra after purchasing items through cashless transfer window to pay more whenever they engage point of sales operators.
