Rent is one of the most common payments a Nigerian business deducts withholding tax from. The rate itself is simple. Getting the deduction and remittance right is where businesses slip.
The rate on rent
Withholding tax on rent is 10%, under the Deduction of Tax at Source (Withholding) Regulations 2024. The rate is the same whether the landlord is a company or an individual, resident or not.
Who deducts it, and when
The party paying the rent deducts the tax, not the landlord. A tenant, or an agent paying rent on a tenant's behalf, holds back 10% of the rent and pays the landlord the balance.
The deducted amount does not sit with the tenant. It has to reach the NRS by the 21st day of the following month, the same deadline that applies to most other WHT deductions.
A quick example
A tenant paying ₦2.4 million in annual rent, for example, deducts 10% of that amount before paying the landlord, and remits the deducted sum to the NRS separately from the rent itself.
What happens without a valid Tax ID
Some WHT deductions double where the supplier has no valid Tax ID on file. The rule behind that carve-out specifically excludes passive income such as dividends from the doubling.
Whether rent falls on one side of that line or the other was not something we could confirm with confidence in our research for this piece. Ask an adviser before doubling a landlord's deduction on the strength of a missing Tax ID alone.
Keeping proof of the deduction
A tenant who deducts WHT should give the landlord a record of it, since the landlord uses that record to claim credit for tax already paid on the same rental income.
Losing track of these records is a common gap. Keep them with your other tax records for as long as the law requires generally.
Where this sits next to stamp duty
WHT on rent taxes the income the landlord receives. A tenancy agreement can also attract its own separate stamp duty, a duty on the document itself rather than on the income. Treat the two as separate costs when you budget for a new lease.
A very small rent, and the small-business exemption
A very small monthly rent, paid to a landlord who holds a valid Tax ID, may fall under the separate small-business WHT exemption. Read the conditions for that exemption before assuming a small rent is automatically exempt.
Common mistakes
- Paying the landlord the full rent and deducting nothing. The deduction happens before payment, not as an afterthought.
- Assuming a corporate landlord is treated differently. 10% applies to all recipient types.
- Losing the deduction record. The landlord needs it to claim credit later, and you need it if the NRS ever asks.
For how this rate compares with WHT on other common SME payments, see WHT rates on contracts, services and goods, and browse the NRS and Rev360 hub for the rest. Check current government rates any time on the government fees tool.