The expansion of the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) to transactions on fintech platforms has propelled the Federal Government’s revenue from this source to N31.2 billion in December 2024, marking the highest monthly record to date.
According to the revenue-sharing data for December, released by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), this represents a 107% increase in EMTL revenue for the government, compared to the N15.046 billion recorded in November 2024.
For December 2024, the total revenue shared among the three tiers of government—Federal, State, and Local—amounted to N1.424 trillion, based on collected statutory revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), and the EMTL collected during the month.
Fintech companies such as PalmPay, OPay, and Moniepoint, among others, began implementing the EMTL deductions from their customers’ transactions starting December 1, 2024. The deductions apply to transfers of N10,000 and above.
While some customers of these fintech platforms had previously enjoyed 100% free transactions, the introduction of the EMTL brought an end to that period of no charges.
“It is important to note that OPay does not benefit from this charge in any way, as it is directed entirely to the Federal Government,” the company stated in a notice to its customers about the new deduction.
The extension of the EMTL to fintech platforms is undoubtedly part of the government’s efforts to bolster its revenue, and this is reflected in the significant growth in EMTL revenue for December 2024.
The 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 a few exceptions: Transfers below N10,000; Money paid into one’s own account; Money transferred electronically between accounts of the same owner within the same bank.
Introduced in the Finance Act 2020, the EMTL aims to encourage the growth of electronic funds transfers in Nigeria. Revenue from the EMTL is shared among the three tiers of government, with the Federal Government receiving 15%, state governments receiving 50%, and local governments receiving 35%.
In December 2023, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) also directed deposit banks to deduct and remit the EMTL on foreign currency (FCY) transactions going forward. Prior to this, the N50 charge on transactions above N10,000 only applied to local currency transactions.
Following this directive, banks began deducting EMTL on foreign currency transactions from 2021 to 2023 in January 2024, as per the tax regulator’s instructions