Questions people actually ask
I am a guest. Do I have to pay this?
If you are paying for accommodation, a meal, an event, an attraction or another eligible tourism service in Nigeria, the contribution forms part of your bill. The national default rate is 1% of the eligible charge. What you should insist on is the invoice: a business that collects the contribution and gives you no fiscal invoice has kept your money outside the system.
How do I know the invoice I was given is real?
Every fiscal invoice carries an Invoice Reference Number and a QR code issued by the Nigeria Revenue Service e-invoicing service. Scan the QR code, or type the reference into the verification page. A real invoice resolves to a record; a printed lookalike does not.
The business told me the contribution is optional. Is it?
No. It is a statutory charge on an eligible supply, not a discretionary service charge, and it is not negotiable at the till. A voluntary tip is a different thing and is never levied.
Is this the same as VAT?
No. They are separate charges that appear on the same invoice. VAT is charged at 7.5% under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025. The contribution is worked out on the eligible hospitality charge and is shown as its own line.
I run a hotel. What do I actually have to do?
Register the business, issue every sale through an e-invoicing channel so the invoice is lodged with the Nigeria Revenue Service, and remit what you have collected by the due date for your period. The platform computes the contribution for you from the approved schedule — you do not calculate a rate by hand.
What if my internet is down?
You still issue the invoice to the guest. The platform holds the document and lodges it when the connection returns, and a recorded outage extends the reporting deadline rather than counting against you.
Who sees my customers' details?
Not the public. This site publishes a business's registered identity and whether it is up to date. It publishes no customer, no contact person, no email address and no phone number, and no amount belonging to any one business.
Where does the money go?
Into a ring-fenced Tourism Development Fund. What has been collected, remitted, swept in, committed and disbursed is published, with the monthly statements, on the transparency pages.
Where these rules come from
| Provision | Carries | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria Tax Act 2025, section 158 | The charge itself | Establishes the Tourism Development Contribution as a levy on hospitality and tourism charges, and the fund the proceeds are applied to. |
| Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025, section 23 | The fiscal invoice | Requires the supply to be documented electronically and reported to the Nigeria Revenue Service. Every invoice this platform issues carries this recital. |
| Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025, section 104 | Penalties | Provides the penalty where a taxable person fails to issue a fiscal document for a supply, or issues one that does not meet the requirements. |
| Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 | Personal data | Governs every personal detail this platform holds. What is collected, why, and for how long is set out in the privacy notice. |
This is guidance, not the law. This page explains how the platform applies the rules in practice. It is guidance, not the law, and it does not replace the Acts it refers to or advice from the Nigeria Revenue Service. Where this page and the law differ, the law governs.