By Yahaya Umar
Nigerian bank customers paid a total of N133.89 billion as electronic money transfer ,EMTL, levy to the government between January and August this year.
This was revealed in the 2025-2027 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper ,MTEF/FSP, which highlights the government’s revenue for the period.
Banks deduct the N50 EMTL levy on behalf of the government on every transaction from N10,000 and above.
The amount realized in eight months represents 76% of the government’s revenue projection from the source in 2024, which was put at N175.11 billion in the year’s budget.
Meanwhile, the government is targeting more revenue from the EMTL next year as the collection of the levy has been extended from commercial banks to cover transactions on all fintech platforms.
According to the MTEF/FSP document, the government hopes to generate N228.85 billion from EMTL in 2025, representing a 31% increase over the 2024 revenue projection.
Earlier in September, fintech companies including OPay, Moniepoint, PalmPay, and others notified their customers of plans to begin deduction of the N50 EMTL from every inflow of N10,000 and above received by their customers starting from September 9.
According to the fintech companies, this deduction is in accordance with the Federal Inland Revenue Service ,FIRS, directive.
However, the deduction did not start until December 1, 2024, when the fintechs issued a fresh notification to their customers.
The mandatory deduction brought to an end the era of free banking services that some of the fintechs provide, even though the charges go to the federal government.
The Electronic Money Transfer Levy ,EMTL, is a one-time charge of N50 on electronic money transfers or receipts in Nigeria. It applies to all electronic transfers of funds in a Nigerian-licensed bank or financial institution, with the following exceptions:
Money is transferred electronically between accounts of the same owner within the same bank.
The EMTL was introduced in the Finance Act 2020 to encourage the growth of electronic funds transfers in Nigeria. Revenue from the EMTL is shared among the three tiers of government.
Revenue derived from the EMTL is shared among the three tiers of government based on derivation, with the Federal Government receiving 15%, state governments receiving 50%, and local governments getting 35%.
In December last year, the FIRS also directed deposit banks to deduct and remit the EMTL on foreign currency ,FCY, transactions going forward.
Before that time, N50 charge on transactions from above N10,000 was only applicable to local currency transactions.
The banks in January this year began the deduction of EMTL on old foreign currency transactions covering 2021 to 2023 as directed by the tax regulator.
