Free tool
What will actually land in your account?
Your client withholds tax at source, so the money that arrives is not the number on your invoice. Work out both, before you send it.
Before any tax — the figure you agreed with your client.
Turn this off if you are not registered for VAT.
Most Nigerian companies do. Individuals usually do not.
- Your work
- ₦0.00
- VAT at 7.5%
- + ₦0.00
- You invoice
- ₦0.00
- WHT at 5%, withheld by your client
- − ₦0.00
Lands in your account
₦0.00
Enter an amount above to see the three figures filled in.
Put these numbers on an invoice your client can pay.
Clerqpay shows the VAT line, the WHT deduction and the net payable on the invoice itself, so this conversation happens before the payment instead of after it.
Start for free“Why did you pay me ₦950,000 when I invoiced ₦1,000,000?”
Because your client is required to hold back part of what they owe you and pay it to FIRS directly. It is called withholding tax, and it is not a deduction they chose, a discount they negotiated, or a fee anyone charged you.
The money is not gone. It has been paid against your tax bill before you ever saw it. Your client should give you a credit note proving it, and you set that against what you owe at the end of the year. If you never ask for the note, you pay the same tax twice — which is the part nobody explains.
VAT works in the opposite direction. You add it on top, your client pays it to you, and you pass it on to FIRS. It is not your money at any point, which is why the calculator shows it going up and withholding tax coming down.
The order matters: withholding tax is worked out on your fee before VAT is added, not on the VAT-inclusive total. Getting that backwards is the most common mistake on Nigerian invoices, and it makes you look wrong in front of the person paying you.
What this does not do
It does not tell you whether you should be charging VAT, or which withholding rate your client will apply — those depend on what you do, who is paying, and whether you are registered. Your client decides the rate they withhold at, and an accountant decides the rest. This works out the arithmetic once you know them.
It is not tax advice and we are not accountants. The rates offered here (7.5% VAT, 5% or 10% withholding) are the standard ones; if your situation is not standard, the number this gives you will not be either.
Show your client the same breakdown
Clerqpay puts the VAT line, the withholding deduction and the net payable on the invoice itself. The conversation at the top of this page then happens before the payment rather than a week after it.
Start for free