You don win money — so wetin you actually owe, and how you go declare am? That na the question wey this guide answer, because how to declare gambling winnings tax in Nigeria depend fully on where the money comot from. If na LSLGA-licensed operator for Lagos pay you, dem don already commot the 5% withholding tax (WHT) from your net win at payout since February 2026 and remit am go Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) — you collect the balance and, for that particular payout, you usually no get anything else to file. But if the money comot from an offshore platform, or from any site wey no deduct anything at source, na you go self-assess and put the amount for your annual personal-income-tax return.
Wetin follow na the six steps wey cover both tracks: gather your record, work out gross versus net, handle the automatic Lagos deduction, declare the undeducted part, submit through the right portal, and keep everything for five years. This na general education, no be personal tax advice — confirm your own position with your state tax authority or a tax professional. Gaming na strictly 18+. Play responsibly.
Table of contents
- Wetin the law actually dey tax (and who e apply to)
- Step 1 — Gather your records
- Step 2 — Work out gross and net winnings
- Step 3 — Lagos-licensed payouts: dem don already deduct the WHT
- Step 4 — How to declare gambling winnings tax in Nigeria: offshore and undeducted wins
- Step 5 — Submit through the tax portal
- Step 6 — Keep record for five years (SCUML / NFIU / AML)
- Conclusion
Wetin the law actually dey tax (and who e apply to)
The Deduction of Tax at Source (Withholding) Regulations 2024 bring winnings from “lottery, gaming and reality shows” wey non-corporate recipients collect inside the WHT regime, and the winnings provisions start to work from 1 October 2024. The rate na 5% for Nigerian residents and 15% for non-residents. The important part wey plenty people dey miss: the tax dey land on net winnings — wetin you win minus the stake wey you put — no be on your turnover and no be on the full payout figure.
The wider framework change well well for 2025. The Nigeria Tax Act 2025, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 and the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2025 all get assent for 26 June 2025 and commence 1 January 2026. The Nigeria Tax Act 2025 pull the old regimes — PITA, CITA, VAT, Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duties — into one statute, and the former FIRS don become the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) from that same date. For a resident player, the self-declaration duty still dey sit under the personal-income-tax worldwide-income rule: if you dey resident for Naija, your income dey assessable wherever e comot from.
Resident vs non-resident, gross vs net
Naira figures explain am pass percentage. See how the two rates take land on the same win:
| Scenario | Stake | Gross win | Net win | WHT | Wetin you collect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resident, single bet | ₦2,000 | ₦102,000 | ₦100,000 | ₦5,000 (5%) | ₦95,000 |
| Non-resident, same bet | ₦2,000 | ₦102,000 | ₦100,000 | ₦15,000 (15%) | ₦85,000 |
| Resident, 5-leg acca | ₦500 | ₦50,000 | ₦49,500 | ₦2,475 (5%) | ₦47,025 |
That acca row na where the net-win rule dey pay you. You stake ₦500, the ticket land ₦50,000, but the tax base na the ₦49,500 profit — no be the ₦50,000 wey enter your alert. For accumulator players wey small stake dey produce big payout, the difference between the two basis fit be thousands of naira on one ticket.
Who suppose pay attention (and the exemption)
Two groups carry the self-assessment duty: players wey dey use offshore platforms, and anybody — local or foreign site — wey collect payout wey nobody deduct WHT from. If your operator no show you any deduction line, the tax no disappear; e just move to your side to declare.
The Regulations give one statutory exemption, and e narrow: winnings from a game of chance or reality show wey dem design exclusively to promote entrepreneurship, academics, or scientific and technological innovation no fall inside the WHT charge. Normal sports betting and casino winnings no reach that bar, so make you no try use am cover regular play.
| Your situation | Wetin dem deduct | Wetin you must do | Proof to keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lagos-licensed platform — resident | 5% on net win (automatic from Feb 2026) | Collect the deduction confirmation; no further filing on that payout | Operator deduction receipt / LIRS remittance reference |
| Lagos-licensed platform — non-resident | 15% on net win (automatic) | Collect the deduction confirmation | Operator deduction receipt |
| Offshore platform — resident | Nothing | Declare the net win for Form A by 31 March | Bet slip, operator statement, bank or wallet alert |
| Any platform wey no deduct | Nothing | Self-assess and declare for Form A | The records for Step 1 |
Step 1 — Gather your records
Everything else for this guide dey stand on top your paperwork, so start from here. For every winning transaction, keep the winning slip or the bet-slip ID together with the casino or bookmaker transaction reference. Keep the payment confirmation too — the bank NIP credit alert, or the OPay, PalmPay or Moniepoint notification wey show the exact amount wey enter. Snap the WhatsApp or in-app payout message with the timestamp, and write down the date, the stake and the gross payout.
The single strongest document na the operator account statement. Download am as PDF or export am from the transaction-history section of your account. For LSLGA-licensed platform, that one statement dey show the stake, the gross win, the WHT wey dem commot, and the net amount wey dem send — four figures for one page. E dey settle most verification question without you needing to hunt for extra paper.
Keep all of am for one place — a Google Drive folder or a dedicated email label dey fine. These same records dey double as Source-of-Funds evidence when bank or fintech ask you where the money comot, wey na exactly wetin Step 6 cover.
Step 2 — Work out gross and net winnings
The maths na short, and e no change from platform to platform:
Net win = Gross win − Stake
WHT (resident) = Net win × 5%
Wetin you collect (resident) = Net win × 95%
Two worked examples wey cover the common cases:
| Example | Stake | Gross win | Net win | WHT (5%) | Net payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5-leg accumulator | ₦500 | ₦50,000 | ₦49,500 | ₦2,475 | ₦47,025 |
| Single casino win | ₦10,000 | ₦110,000 | ₦100,000 | ₦5,000 | ₦95,000 |
For offshore or undeducted wins, na the same formula produce the number wey go enter your Form A — but you go add up the net win across every qualifying transaction for the whole year of assessment, no be transaction by transaction. Note one thing wey dey confuse people: the figure wey you declare na the net win, no be the credit wey land your bank account. On a Lagos-licensed platform that credit don already be post-tax money. There is an interactive 5% / 15% calculator for both resident and non-resident scenarios if you wan check your own figures fast.
Step 3 — Lagos-licensed payouts: dem don already deduct the WHT
From February 2026, operators wey the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LSLGA) license must deduct the 5% WHT from resident net winnings for the point of payout and remit am to the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) before dem release your money. In plain terms: your account dey credited with 95% of the net win, and the tax on that transaction don already settle for your behalf. Non-residents dey get the 15% treatment on the same automatic basis.
The document wey you suppose collect na the operator deduction confirmation — a receipt or transaction summary wey show the gross win, the stake, the net win, the WHT amount, and the LIRS remittance reference. Platforms like Bet9ja, BetKing and SportyBet dey put am inside the transaction-history section of the account, and customer support fit release am if e no dey show.
Where that confirmation dey valid, the resident player no get further personal-income-tax filing to do on that payout. Still, keep the receipt for five years. Na that paper be your first line of defence for a Source-of-Funds review, and e dey settle any LIRS query about the transaction one time.
Step 4 — How to declare gambling winnings tax in Nigeria: offshore and undeducted wins
Offshore operators — the ones wey hold Curaçao, Anjouan or MGA licence — no get any mechanism to deduct Nigerian WHT and dem no dey remit anything to any Nigerian authority. That absence na mechanical, no be exemption. Under the worldwide-income rule wey the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 carry forward, a Nigerian resident suppose declare all income including offshore gaming winnings, no matter the currency or the country where the operator dey.
You dey report offshore net winnings on Form A, the annual self-assessment return for individuals. Here na the nuance wey plenty guide dey get wrong: Form A dey filed with your own state tax authority — LIRS if you dey Lagos, FCT Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) if you dey Abuja, and the relevant state IRS anywhere else. The NRS (formerly FIRS) dey handle federal taxes like company income tax and VAT; e no be the destination for individual personal-income-tax returns.
The deadline na 31 March — within 90 days after the year of assessment close. So winnings wey you collect during 2026 (1 January to 31 December 2026) suppose enter a Form A wey you file by 31 March 2027. The amount na the aggregate net win for the full year across every offshore platform, calculated the Step 2 way.
One factual note about enforcement: individual-level enforcement on offshore declarations still dey light for now, while payment-rail monitoring by CBN and EFCC dey far more active — the April 2024 operation wey freeze over 105 fintech accounts linked to offshore-betting flows show the kind of surveillance capacity wey dey ground. Make that no read as permission to skip declaring; the liability dey there whether anybody knock your door or not.
Step 5 — Submit through the tax portal
Registration and submission of Form A dey happen online, through the portal of the tax authority for your state of residence.
Which portal — na state IRS for individuals
- Lagos residents: the LIRS e-Tax platform
- FCT / Abuja residents: the FCT-IRS portal
- Other states: the respective state IRS portal; the Joint Revenue Board dey coordinate state IRS operations across the federation
The submission run like this. Register with your TIN (Tax Identification Number) if you never register on the portal. Open the Form A annual self-assessment return for the correct year of assessment. Enter your total income for the year and put the net gaming winnings as a separate line. Attach the supporting documents — operator account statements, WHT deduction receipts for Lagos-licensed payouts, and bank or wallet records for offshore wins. Then submit before the deadline.
Download the filing acknowledgement wey the portal generate and keep am with the rest of your records. The penalty for late filing under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 (s.101) na ₦100,000 for the first month of default and ₦50,000 for each month after. File three months late and you don already carry ₦200,000 penalty — for plenty moderate wins, that penalty pass the actual tax wey you for pay.
Step 6 — Keep record for five years (SCUML / NFIU / AML)
Keep your gaming-related financial records for five years. That period match the operational requirement of the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and the AML obligations wey Nigerian financial institutions dey work under.
The reason no be paperwork-for-paperwork sake. Banks and fintechs must file Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) with the NFIU for transactions above ₦5,000,000 for individuals (₦10,000,000 for corporates), and dem must file a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) within 24 hours when a pattern look unusual. April 2024 show wetin dat capacity fit do: CBN and EFCC froze over 105 fintech accounts linked to offshore-betting flows. If big gaming credit dey enter your Naija account or wallet, your file suppose already complete before anybody ask — no be after.
For every year of play, keep the operator account statement for the full year, the WHT deduction confirmations from Lagos-licensed operators, the payment alerts (NIP credit, OPay, PalmPay, Moniepoint), the Form A filing acknowledgement for any year wey you declare, and the bank or wallet statement wey show all gaming credits. Detail on the SCUML and NFIU thresholds and the Source-of-Funds documentation checklist dey for separate guides on this site. If the record-keeping dey feel heavy because play don become plenty, that na also a good moment to check your deposit and time limits.
Conclusion
How to declare gambling winnings tax in Nigeria come down to which track your money follow. If LSLGA-licensed operator for Lagos pay you, dem don deduct the 5% WHT on your net win at payout since February 2026 and remit am to LIRS — your only job na to collect and keep the deduction confirmation. If the win comot from an offshore platform or from any payout wey nobody deduct, add up the net win for the year, declare am on Form A with your state IRS by 31 March, and keep the supporting records five years. The ₦100,000-plus-₦50,000-per-month late-filing penalty under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 dey give plenty reason to meet that date.
This na general education, no be personal tax advice — confirm your own position with your state tax authority or a qualified tax professional. Gaming na strictly 18+, and e suppose be entertainment, no be income plan. Play responsibly. If gambling don start to press you or somebody wey you sabi, call Gamble Alert on +234 916 295 7989 or visit gamblealert.org.