Employer of Record in Nigeria

Employ talent in Nigeria without a local entity — pension, PAYE, NSITF, ITF and multi-agency statutory compliance handled by local specialists.

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Why hire in Nigeria through an EOR

Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and a booming tech-talent market, but its payroll is genuinely complex: pension, PAYE (newly reformed under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025), NSITF, ITF and NHF are spread across multiple agencies with different bases and deadlines, and PAYE is remitted to state authorities. Through an EOR, all of it is already running.

No entity required

Employ staff in Nigeria, and 180+ other countries, without registering a Nigerian company with the CAC or maintaining a local presence.

Pension, registered and remitted

Employers contribute a minimum of 10% and employees 8% of monthly emoluments — never less than basic plus housing and transport — remitted within 7 working days of payroll. We handle PFA registration and timely remittance.

PAYE under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025

From 1 January 2026, the first ₦800,000 of annual taxable income is tax-free and PAYE runs on a new six-band scale topping out at 25%. We calculate it correctly and remit to the right State Internal Revenue Service.

Multi-agency levies handled

NSITF (1% of payroll, employer-only) and ITF (1% for qualifying employers) each have their own agency and deadline. We register and remit to all of them, so nothing is missed.

Working in days, not months

We employ your Nigerian hires through our established structure — they can be working in days, while setting up your own foreign-owned entity would still be months away.

Hire in Nigeria without setting up an entity

Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and one of its most exciting talent markets — a vast, young, English-speaking workforce, and a globally competitive pool of software engineers and fintech professionals. But it is also one of the continent’s more complex places to run payroll. Statutory obligations are spread across multiple agencies — pension (PenCom / a Pension Fund Administrator), PAYE income tax (remitted to State Internal Revenue Services, not federally), NSITF, ITF and the NHF — each with its own calculation base, remittance deadline and enforcement body. And the ground has just shifted: the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, effective 1 January 2026, replaced the old Personal Income Tax Act, scrapped the Consolidated Relief Allowance and rebuilt the PAYE bands from the ground up.

An Employer of Record removes all of that: TopSource employs your Nigerian hires through our established structure, registers and remits pension, PAYE, NSITF and ITF to the correct agencies on the correct deadlines, applies the new Nigeria Tax Act rules, and keeps you compliant across the whole multi-agency landscape. Hire into Nigeria in days, not the months a foreign-owned entity takes.

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Calculate Your Employee Costs in Nigeria

Enter a gross salary to see the full monthly cost of a hire in Nigeria — pension, NSITF, ITF and the employee’s PAYE gross-to-net included in your total spend per employee.

Employment Cost Calculator

*Indicative figures only and not definitive legal advice. Local regulations change frequently. Consult an expert

Nigeria

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How EOR in Nigeria works: the process through TopSource

Step 1

Confirm the role and structure

We agree the position, salary and benefits with you, structure the pensionable components (basic, housing, transport), and confirm the applicable State Internal Revenue Service for PAYE.

Step 2

Issue a compliant contract

Your new hire receives a written employment contract aligned with the Labour Act, with probation, notice, leave and statutory-deduction terms clearly set out.

Step 3

Register the employee

We register the employee with a licensed Pension Fund Administrator and the relevant statutory schemes (NSITF, and ITF/NHF where applicable) before their start date, and put the required group life cover in place.

Step 4

Run payroll and remit to every agency

We calculate salary, 10% employer and 8% employee pension on monthly emoluments, PAYE under the Nigeria Tax Act, NSITF (1%) and ITF (1% where applicable) — remitting each to the correct agency on its own deadline.

Step 5

Support the relationship day to day

Your account manager and the employee both have a direct line for contract questions, leave, pension queries and anything else that comes up.

Know your Nigeria hiring costs before you commit

Tell us the role and salary — we’ll send back the full Nigerian employment cost, pension, PAYE and levies included, within one business day.

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Employer Costs in Nigeria at a Glance

10 %

Minimum employer pension contribution of monthly emoluments

₦ 70,000

National minimum wage per month

₦ 800,000

Annual taxable income now tax-free under the Nigeria Tax Act

Employer Costs in Nigeria Explained

Nigeria’s employer costs are moderate but spread across several agencies. Employers contribute 10% of monthly emoluments to a Pension Fund Administrator, plus NSITF at 1% of total payroll and ITF at 1% of annual payroll for qualifying employers, and must carry group life cover worth at least three times annual emoluments. Employees contribute 8% pension and pay PAYE income tax — rebuilt under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, with the first ₦800,000 of annual taxable income now tax-free. The national minimum wage is ₦70,000 per month. Here’s the breakdown.

Under the Pension Reform Act 2014, the Contributory Pension Scheme applies to private-sector organisations with 15 or more employees (section 2(2)), while organisations with fewer than three employees and the self-employed participate under PenCom guidelines. In practice PenCom administers and enforces the scheme from three employees upward, so that is the level at which an employer should expect to run a compliant scheme. The minimum contribution is 18% of monthly emoluments, split 10% from the employer and 8% from the employee — and where the employer chooses to bear the whole cost, the statutory floor rises to 20%. Monthly emoluments means the total emoluments set out in the employment contract, subject to a floor of basic salary plus housing and transport allowance: BHT is the minimum base, not automatically the base. Contributions go within 7 working days of paying salaries to the Pension Fund Custodian appointed by the employee’s licensed PFA, which then credits their Retirement Savings Account. Late remittance carries a penalty of at least 2% of the outstanding amount per month, recoverable into the employee’s own RSA. Employers must also maintain group life insurance worth at least three times the employee’s annual total emoluments. Structuring the pensionable base correctly is one of the most common Nigerian payroll errors, and one we handle.

The Nigeria Tax Act 2025, effective 1 January 2026, replaced the Personal Income Tax Act and rebuilt personal income tax. The headline change: the first ₦800,000 of annual taxable income is now completely tax-free, and employment income at or below the national minimum wage is exempt outright. Above the zero band, PAYE runs on six progressive rates — 15% on the next ₦2.2 million, 18% on the next ₦9 million, 21% on the next ₦13 million, 23% on the next ₦25 million, and 25% on anything above ₦50 million. The old Consolidated Relief Allowance has been abolished, replaced by defined deductions including pension, NHF and NHIS contributions, life assurance premiums and a new rent relief of 20% of annual rent paid, capped at ₦500,000. Crucially, PAYE in Nigeria is remitted to the State Internal Revenue Service of the state where the employee is resident — not to a single federal body — so multi-state teams involve multiple tax authorities. We calculate PAYE under the new rules and remit to the correct state authority.

Two levies fall entirely on the employer and are never deducted from staff pay. The NSITF (Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund) contribution is 1% of total monthly payroll — gross emoluments — funding workplace-injury and occupational-disease compensation under the Employee Compensation Act, remitted monthly. The ITF (Industrial Training Fund) levy is 1% of annual payroll, applying to employers with five or more employees or annual turnover of ₦50 million or more, funding employee training — compliant employers can reclaim up to 50% of the contributions they have paid, provided the ITF approves their training programme — and is payable no later than 1 April of the following year. Each has its own agency and deadline. We register for and remit both correctly.

The National Housing Fund (NHF) contribution is 2.5% of an employee’s monthly income — and it has been voluntary for private-sector employees since section 45 of the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 amended the NHF Act 1992. It remains mandatory in the public sector and for the self-employed. The national minimum wage is ₦70,000 per month. Statutory annual leave under the Labour Act is a minimum of 6 working days after 12 months of continuous service — that is an absolute legal floor rather than a market rate, with 15 to 25 days common for professional roles, and paying in lieu of leave is unlawful while the contract continues. The Labour Act also provides up to 12 working days of paid sick leave a year on a registered doctor’s certificate; public holidays sit separately, under the Public Holidays Act. Termination and notice are governed by the Labour Act and the contract. We apply the correct statutory floors and market-standard benefits within payroll.

EOR or entity setup: which one fits your Nigeria plan?

Registering with the CAC is no longer the bottleneck — incorporation itself can complete in days. The weight sits in what a foreign-owned company needs before it can legally run payroll: a minimum issued share capital of ₦100 million, NIPC registration, a Ministry of Interior business permit, a corporate bank account, and separate registrations with PenCom, NSITF, ITF and the relevant state revenue service. End to end that is typically 8-12+ weeks, and each of those bodies then enforces separately for as long as the entity exists. An EOR makes sense while you’re testing the market or hiring a first team — especially remote tech talent; your own entity usually makes sense once Nigerian headcount and permanence justify the overhead.

Consider an EOR if you’re:

Hiring your first one to five people in Nigeria
Recruiting Nigerian software engineers or fintech talent remotely
Testing the Nigerian or wider West African market before committing to an entity
Working to a hiring deadline measured in weeks, not months

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High-rise towers under construction on the Lagos waterfront, Nigeria

Why TopSource for Employing in Nigeria

TopSource for Employer of Record, global payroll or any other of our services represent a simpler, more reliable and transparent option.

We don’t hide fees or sneak price increases. We don’t lock you in for employees you don’t use. But we do give you a dedicated point of contact, available on the phone so you get answers fast — including on the questions Nigeria raises constantly, from the new Nigeria Tax Act PAYE rules to which state IRS applies and how the multi-agency levies work. We blend HR advisory with in-market expertise, and we stay flexible around the needs of your business.

EOR Services Nigeria Payroll

A cable-stayed bridge lit up at night over the lagoon in Lagos, Nigeria

“Their expertise and understanding of the unique hiring, payment, and human resource practices in each country has been nothing short of outstanding. Our Client Success Manager, has done just that … ensured our success. Her availability and willingness to engage on a personal level has made all the difference.”

Director of Research Operations,

“Excellent service, especially from our account manager who has gone above and beyond to help us use the platform effectively. Our manager, significantly simplifies my workload. It is like having your own TopSource HR representative on your team.”

Chief Human Resources Officer,

“TopSource has been our go-to resource for international hiring. They are responsive, thorough, respectful and knowledgeable. The Client Success team has provided us with the utmost customer service, and the more we use TopSource, the more, it gives us access to more resources and knowledge.”

Senior Manager, Human Resources ,

More than an Employer of Record.

Employer of Record services are only one way that we help you accelerate your global growth goals. From talent advisory to entity management, we give you the tools you need to research, enter and expand into your key markets.

Market Selection Advisory

Compare available talent, compensation, additional costs and regulations across different countries

Salary Benchmarking

Identify and prioritize markets for growth based on talent, cost & regulations

Global Skills Analysis

Map skill availability by region to align talent strategies with business goals..

Talent Acquisition

Find, hire & onboard the highly skilled team members you need in each locality.

Talent Strategy Optimization

Optimize your talent strategy to enable your organization to achieve it’s global ambitions.

Global Benefits Review

Benchmark your global benefits to boost employee retention.

Frequently
asked questions

Beyond gross salary, the main employer costs are pension (a minimum of 10% of monthly emoluments), NSITF (1% of payroll), group life cover worth three times annual emoluments and, for qualifying employers, ITF (1% of annual payroll). The employee’s 8% pension and PAYE are withheld from pay, not an employer cost. We quote the exact all-in figure per hire before you commit.

Effective 1 January 2026, the first ₦800,000 of annual taxable income is completely tax-free, and employment income at or below the national minimum wage is exempt outright. Above that, six progressive bands run from 15% up to 25% on income over ₦50 million. The Consolidated Relief Allowance has gone, replaced by defined deductions including rent relief of 20% of annual rent, capped at ₦500,000. PAYE is remitted to the State Internal Revenue Service where the employee is resident, not to a single federal body. We calculate and remit it correctly under the new rules.

The Pension Reform Act 2014 applies the Contributory Pension Scheme to private-sector organisations with 15 or more employees, though PenCom administers and enforces it from three employees upward: 10% employer and 8% employee of monthly emoluments, which can never be less than basic plus housing and transport allowance. Contributions go to the Pension Fund Custodian appointed by the employee’s licensed PFA within 7 working days of salary, and are credited to their Retirement Savings Account. Employers must also carry group life cover of three times annual emoluments. We handle registration and remittance.

Both are employer-only levies. NSITF is 1% of total monthly payroll, funding workplace-injury compensation under the Employee Compensation Act. ITF is 1% of annual payroll for employers with five or more staff or ₦50m+ turnover, funding employee training — compliant employers can reclaim up to 50% of the contributions they have paid, subject to ITF approval of the training plan. Neither is deducted from employee pay; we register for and remit both to the correct agencies.

NHF contributions of 2.5% of monthly income have been voluntary for private-sector employees since section 45 of the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 amended the NHF Act — they remain mandatory in the public sector and for the self-employed. Where an employee opts in, we deduct and remit to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, which makes them eligible for NHF housing loans.

EOR wins decisively on speed and on carrying the multi-agency compliance for you: employees working in days, with PenCom, state PAYE, NSITF and ITF all handled. Your own company wins on scale once Nigerian headcount and permanence justify running that machinery yourself — bearing in mind that a foreign-owned entity needs ₦100 million of issued share capital, NIPC registration and a business permit before it can employ anyone. We transfer the team across when the time comes.

Private health insurance (given the limits of Nigeria’s public healthcare system for many employees), transport and housing allowances, and, in some sectors, a 13th month or end-of-year bonus are common differentiators in Nigeria. As Africa’s largest economy and workforce, Nigeria’s tech and fintech sectors in particular compete hard on total compensation packages.

Notice periods under Nigeria’s Labour Act scale with tenure, from one day for under three months of service up to one month for five or more years, though contracts commonly specify longer notice for senior roles. Nigeria’s Labour Act framework is currently being modernized in some respects, and state-level variations can also apply, so checking current requirements before termination is important.

An EOR can have your hire working in days — typically two to five — because the employment sits inside a structure that is already registered with a Pension Fund Administrator, NSITF, ITF and the relevant State Internal Revenue Service. Incorporating with the Corporate Affairs Commission is itself quick, but a foreign-owned entity also needs ₦100 million of issued share capital, NIPC registration, a Ministry of Interior business permit, a corporate bank account and each of those statutory registrations before it can legally run payroll — typically 8 to 12 weeks end to end.