Rent receipts Nigerian tenants need for rent relief

What a Nigerian landlord or letting agent should give tenants so they can claim rent relief on personal income tax, and how to produce it from Achekam.

By Achekam · 11 October 2026 · 5 min read · For Real estate businesses in Nigeria

Since the Nigeria Tax Act took effect, tenants have a new reason to care about the paperwork their landlord gives them. Rent they pay can now reduce the personal income tax they owe, and the employee who used to throw away the receipt now wants a proper one, for every payment, with the right details on it.

For a landlord or a letting agent this is an opportunity as much as a chore. A tenant who gets clear, consistent records without asking is a tenant who renews. A landlord whose records are a mess will spend the first months of every year writing letters and answering calls.

Rent relief in the Nigeria Tax Act, at the time of writing

From 1 January 2026, Nigerian personal income tax is charged in bands: 0% on the first ₦800,000 of annual taxable income, then 15%, 18%, 21% and 23% in bands, and 25% on income above ₦50 million. The consolidated relief allowance that employees used to receive is abolished.

In its place, among other reliefs, is rent relief. At the time of writing, a deduction of 20% of annual rent, up to ₦500,000, is allowed. For a tenant whose rent is significant, that is a real reduction in tax.

PwC's summary of Nigerian taxes on personal income sets out the bands from 1 January 2026 and how employment and other income is taxed. Rates and reliefs change, so check the current position each year rather than relying on this article. How the new bands affect payroll is covered in Nigerian PAYE bands from 2026.

What tenants will ask you for

A relief based on rent paid can only be claimed if the tenant can show what they paid. Expect tenants, and sometimes their employers, to ask for:

• a receipt for each payment, showing the amount, the date and what period it covers;
• the address of the property let;
• the landlord's name, and the agent's if an agent collects;
• a statement for the year showing the total rent paid;
• sometimes a copy of the tenancy agreement.

The exact evidence an employer or tax authority accepts may differ, so ask tenants what they have been asked for, and keep your records able to answer more than one form of the question.

Invoices and receipts for each rent payment

In Achekam, rent is billed as a customer invoice. A business creates invoices as drafts, and issuing one takes the next number in the sequence and posts it to the ledger. An issued invoice can be downloaded as a PDF on the business's letterhead and e-mailed from the invoice, with or without a pay link, and a failed send is reported as not sent.

When the tenant pays, record the payment against the invoice. A business records customer payments against one invoice or spread across a customer's invoices; a part payment leaves the invoice part-paid, and any extra is held on the customer's account. That matters for rent, where tenants often pay a year in advance, or in instalments that do not match the invoices.

There is one current limitation to know before sending invoice PDFs to Nigerian tenants. The invoice PDF downloaded or e-mailed from the invoice screen is always headed TAX INVOICE and cites the South African VAT Act, whatever the business's country or VAT number. It is a defect in that browser-made PDF. A Nigerian tenant presenting a document that cites South African law to their employer invites questions. Until it is fixed, prefer the statement of account below as the document you hand over, and explain the invoice heading if a tenant asks.

A statement of account for the year

The cleaner document for rent relief is the statement of account. The server produces a customer statement of account as a PDF that can be e-mailed, and the screen says whether it was sent.

At the end of each tax year, send every tenant a statement covering the year. It sets out the tenant's account in one document, which is usually what a tenant needs to support a claim. Practical tips:

1. Make sure every payment in the year has been recorded and allocated before producing statements.
2. Use the tenant's full legal name on the customer record, as it will appear on their tax records.
3. Put the property address in the invoice descriptions, so the statement makes clear which property the rent was for.
4. Send statements early in the new year, before tenants start asking.
5. Note on the customer record that the statement was sent.

Clear up part-paid invoices and unallocated money first; nothing confuses a tenant more than a statement that seems to say they owe rent they know they paid.

How employers apply the relief in payroll

Most tenants are employees, and their relief is applied through PAYE. Achekam's Nigerian payroll calculates PAYE on the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 bands, with pension, opt-in National Housing Fund, NSITF, the ITF levy, rent relief and the minimum-wage exemption, from a table a person confirms. Confirming the table requires choosing the pension coverage threshold and giving a reason.

The employer needs to know what the employee pays in rent before the relief can be applied, which is where your statements come in. A tenant who can hand their employer a clear annual statement gets the relief applied properly; one who cannot may lose it or have it questioned. Landlords who also collect rent electronically will find matching easier; see collecting naira payments.

Keeping copies in case of questions

Tax authorities can ask questions after the year has ended, and tenants lose paperwork. Keep:

• each tenancy agreement and its renewals;
• the invoices and recorded payments for every tenant;
• the annual statements as sent, with the date they went out;
• any correspondence about disputed or late payments.

Keep a copy of every statement exactly as it was sent, so you can show later what the tenant received. Correct mistakes with a credit note against the invoice, not by deleting history.

Before the year ends, check that every tenant's customer record has their full name and the property address, record any outstanding payments, and plan the date you will send annual statements.

General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.