Import Duties, VAT & Customs in Nigeria
Educational overview only—not legal or tax advice. Verify requirements on official portals and with a qualified adviser.
Bringing goods into Nigeria usually triggers customs duty (by HS code), other levies as listed on the tariff, and VAT on importation collected through the customs process in many cases. Landed cost models that ignore one leg misprice inventory. This page is a logistics–tax primer; your clearing agent and accountant should validate codes and rates per shipment.
Classification risk
Wrong HS classification changes duty and sometimes VAT treatment. Maintain technical descriptions and supplier catalogues that support your chosen code.
VAT credit chain
Registered businesses generally seek to recover import VAT in their VAT returns subject to rules—coordinate customs entries with accounting periods. See VAT basics.
Excise overlap
Some goods attract excise as well—see Excise duty.