Finance Act 2026: what actually changed for Nigerian companies

Every Finance Act arrives with more commentary than substance. This one is no different — but a handful of its provisions do change the arithmetic for ordinary Nigerian companies, and a few change the paperwork even where the arithmetic stays put.

The amendments that move numbers

Minimum tax

The computation has been simplified, and the exemption threshold raised. For a company in a loss year with meaningful turnover, this is the single largest change in the Act: where minimum tax previously bit at the higher of four bases, it now applies on one.

Work through a loss year under both regimes before you assume the new position is better. For asset-heavy companies with modest turnover it generally is. For trading companies with thin margins and high turnover it can go the other way.

Capital allowances on qualifying expenditure

The restriction on claiming allowances against non-related income has been tightened. In practice this means a company with a single trade is unaffected, and a company with investment income alongside its trade will find a portion of its allowances ring-fenced.

Withholding tax on construction

Rates on construction contracts have been revised, and — more importantly — the definition of what constitutes construction for withholding purposes has been widened to capture certain installation and commissioning work previously treated as a service.

If you engage contractors, your procurement templates almost certainly deduct at the old rate for the newly captured categories. That exposes you, not the contractor, to the shortfall plus interest.

The amendments that move paperwork

Three changes carry no rate impact but do require a change in filing practice:

1. Transfer pricing declarations are now due with the income tax return rather than separately, which brings the deadline forward for most companies.
2. Returns for companies in liquidation must now be filed for the period to the date of the winding-up order, not the accounting year end.
3. Electronic filing is mandatory above a turnover threshold; paper filings above it are treated as not filed, which is a materially different outcome from late filing.

What to do before your next return

Reconcile your current-year computation under both the old and new provisions. Where the Act improves your position, the saving only materialises if the computation is prepared on the new basis — the FIRS will not restate it for you. Where it worsens your position, you want to know before the assessment, not after.

Second, review your withholding schedule against the revised construction definitions. This is the provision most likely to produce an unwelcome reconciliation two years from now.

If you would like us to run your current computation both ways, that is a short piece of work and we are happy to do it.