Communiqué 96: The Taxman is coming for Nigeria’s creator economy
New tax reforms in Nigeria are the latest in a wave of attempts across Africa to bring creators into the tax bracket.
Why this matters
Nigeria’s tax reforms may signal the end of the informal era — creators, freelancers, and digital workers must now prepare for a future where their income is formally tracked, taxed, and regulated.
As governments across Africa begin taxing creators, the continent is acknowledging the creator economy as a legitimate, measurable industry — one that now requires structure, compliance, and clearer definitions.
Taxation can either accelerate or stifle growth; how Nigeria implements these rules will shape whether creators gain better protections, infrastructure, and support.
1. The party’s over?
For years, remote workers, YouTubers, influencers, newsletter operators, and Nigerians earning foreign currency online operated in a grey zone: economically active, but invisible to tax authorities. But that changes in 2026.
The reason? Sweeping tax reforms signed into law earlier this year. The reforms are aimed at expanding the tax net as part of a broader push to increase Nigeria’s internally generated revenue (IGR). The goal is ambitious: to raise the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio from below 10% to 18% by 2027. Now, the digital and creator economy — one of the fastest-growing and historically invisible sectors — is firmly in the sights of the taxman.
To be clear, the reforms do not explicitly target content creators, except those registered as corporate entities, and even then, only when their annual profits exceed 25 million naira ($17,300). But creators have reason to pay attention. The reforms focus on remote workers and freelancers. Anyone earning income, especially from foreign companies or through online monetisation, will now be required to register, file returns, and pay taxes. This is the very category where creators operate, and these new rules bring them closer to the formal tax bracket.
Under the new framework, salaries will be taxed at a minimum rate of 15%, starting with Nigerians earning above 800,000 naira ($553) per year, and capped at a maximum rate of 25% for those earning 50 million naira ($34,580) and above. On paper, this means many in Nigeria’s creator class will technically fall outside the immediate impact of the new rules, not because they are exempt, but because they do not yet meet the income threshold.
According to the Nigerian Creator Economy Report 2025, a comprehensive study on the income structure of creators in Nigeria, 56% of creators earn less than $100 a month from their work. Only a small fraction—about 3.23%—earn above $5,000. For now, this income structure places the majority below the taxable floor.
But this reprieve is temporary. The new laws may not explicitly single out content creators, but they create the infrastructure around them, and infrastructure creates inevitability. What is inevitable is that the Nigerian creator economy will continue to expand and will eventually grow firmly into the tax bracket, a change that all creators should be prepared for.
2. The price of recognition
The new tax policy has sparked widespread outcry. While many view it as an added burden, taxation isn’t only about revenue collection; it also signals that an industry has become economically significant. When a sector starts generating measurable value, governments often introduce taxes as a way of formally recognising its growing role in the economy.
Economic and tax theories, such as the ability-to-pay theory (which suggests that governments should levy tax based on income and capacity) and the neutrality theory (which emphasises that taxation should not distort economic activity or discourage growth), offer insight into how governments approach taxation. From these perspectives, we can identify clear benchmarks that industries generally reach before they are taxed.
A. The industry generates significant income and market value
Taxation becomes logical once an activity produces substantial and reliable income. For most content creators, the beginning of their careers often looked more like a hobby. However, as they grow and become more established, they start negotiating brand deals, receiving payments from platforms, working with agencies dedicated to monetising content, and earning from ads, royalties, subscriptions, merchandise, and licensing. Once an industry generates predictable revenue, ignoring it leaves a gap in the formal economy, widening informality and creating an uneven playing field.
B. The industry begins to replace or compete with established taxed sectors
Taxes often follow competition or disruption. For instance, ride-hailing services like Uber competed with taxis, while fintechs challenged banks, and then regulation and taxation followed. Similarly, creators are now competing with, and in some cases replacing, traditional PR and advertising agencies and broadcasters. When a sector begins to draw income away from taxed industries, governments have a clear incentive to include it in the tax base.
C. The industry gains commercial infrastructure
Industries are taxed only when they develop structures that make compliance measurable and enforceable. For the Nigerian creator economy, these structures are still taking shape, but early signs indicate that we are headed in the right direction as creators are signing more formal contracts with brands, securing representation through talent agencies, and joining industry associations. Once an industry builds the infrastructure to support reporting and accountability, taxation becomes viable and inevitable.
3. Food for thought
Taxation for the creator economy is already on the horizon, but it should not be the first step. Before the government begins collecting revenue from creators, certain preconditions must be in place to ensure fairness, clarity, and compliance.
Clear legal definition: We must first define who counts as a creator and clarify when a hobby becomes a business. Without clear definitions, creators risk inconsistent treatment, and enforcement could be arbitrary. Legal clarity ensures creators understand their obligations and know when they enter the formal tax net.
Taxpayer education: Before taxation begins, creators should be educated on how to comply with the tax laws. Clear instructions on registration, filing returns, and calculating taxes prevent unintentional non-compliance.
Industry-specific deductions and allowances: Creators invest in equipment, software, production, advertising, and other business expenses. Recognising these costs through deductions or allowances ensures taxation reflects actual business profits rather than penalising creators for investing in their work.
4. A continental sweeping wave
The reforms in Nigeria are part of a broader wave sweeping across the continent as governments begin to tax the creator economy. And there’s a clear reason: the money is now visible.
The Nigerian digital agency TIMA estimates that brands spent $159.9 million on creators in Africa in 2022. Statista puts that figure at $137.3 million and projects it will reach $267.5 million by 2028. With numbers like that, it’s no surprise governments want their share.
In 2023, Morocco’s Directorate of General Taxes sent notices to 120 YouTubers and content creators asking them to regularise their tax status for the previous three years. In Cameroon, a ministerial order issued in 2024 now requires creators to pay a 5% tax on digital income from the sale of goods, services, or assets. And in September of this year, the South African Revenue Service officially added influencers to its taxpayer segmentation model, meaning that income, whether in cash or in kind, must now be declared. But the boldest move so far came from Kenya, which introduced a 15% withholding tax on digital creators through its 2023 Finance Act.
Taken together, these shifts signal something new: recognition. The creator economy is being treated as a legitimate sector of the economy. But taxation should not be the next step. For creators, tax is easier to accept when it comes with visible benefits, such as better copyright protection, access to financing, digital trade agreements, and support for creative infrastructure. Now, as governments step forward, the question becomes: will their taxation accelerate the ecosystem or simply extract from it?
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