Green Tax: what engine size actually costs at the port

Nigeria's Green Tax starts at 2,000cc: 2% of CIF between 2,000 and 3,999cc, 4% from 4,000cc, and nothing at all below 2,000cc. On a USD 23,800 Hilux that is USD 519. On the same car the import duty is USD 5,191 — ten times more — and the cut in the NAC levy that came in on the same day saved about USD 2,600. The tax is real, and it is the smallest line on the page. This page prices it per band, then says what that should change about what you import, which is less than the headlines suggest.

The three bands, in dollars

The rate is charged on CIF, the same base as duty and the levy. So the amount depends on two things: which band the engine is in, and how expensive the car is. Here it is as pure arithmetic, before any other tax:

Which column you land in is decided by the car, not by you. A 2.8 Hilux sits in the middle band whatever the invoice says, and a 1.9 D-Max sits in the free band even though it is the same kind of vehicle. The boundary is 2,000cc exactly, not "two litres" as a category, which is why a 1.9 and a 2.0 can be one showroom conversation and two different tax lines.

What it is not

It is not a reason a car is refused, and it does not touch the other five lines. Duty is still 20% of CIF, the NAC levy 5%, the surcharge 7% of the duty, the ECOWAS levy 0.5% of CIF, and VAT 7.5% on the stacked total. Green Tax is one more line on the assessment, charged on the same base.

Pages presenting it as the reason imports suddenly got expensive are reading the wrong line. On the USD 23,800 Hilux: duty USD 5,191, VAT USD 2,373, levy USD 1,298, Green Tax USD 519, surcharge USD 363, ECOWAS USD 130. Fourth place, and about a tenth of the duty.

Where the line actually bites: 4,000cc

Two units in our catalogue sit above the 4% line: the Nissan Patrol and the Toyota Coaster, both 4.0. On a Patrol at USD 30,000 FOB, CIF comes to about USD 32,200 and the Green Tax is about USD 1,290 instead of USD 645. On a vehicle already paying roughly USD 12,900 in tax, that is the fourth largest line and the one an agent is most likely to leave off the quote.

That is the whole risk with this tax. Not the amount — the omission. A buyer who finds an unbudgeted USD 1,300 at the port does not blame the government. He blames the quote he was given, and he is right to.

What our catalogue looks like across the three bands

We keep specifications for every model we quote, so the split is not an estimate. Of the 50 units we regularly supply into West Africa:

The count is more useful to a dealer than the rate. Half the catalogue is exempt, which means that for most of the enquiries you get, this tax does not appear at all. The 2% band is where the popular pickups and seven-seaters live, and it is where the line shows up on a quote — a RAV4 at USD 18,000 FOB carries about USD 400 of it, against a total tax bill near USD 7,600.

So should it change what you import?

No, and it would be a bad trade to let it. Nigerian buyers pay for 1.5 to 2.0 litre petrol because that is what the fuel and the traffic support, and for 2.5 to 2.8 litre diesel in the pickups that actually work. Choosing a smaller engine to dodge 2% of CIF means handing the customer a car he did not ask for in order to save USD 500 on a USD 29,000 invoice.

What it should change is the quote. Every line belongs on it, including the ones that make the total look worse. The reason is not transparency as a virtue — it is that at Apapa the buyer will be handed an assessment with every line on it, and the one he did not see from you is the only one he will remember.

If you want the whole stack in one place, the landed-cost breakdown runs the arithmetic from FOB to a plate, and the tokunbo page covers what the papers have to prove before any of this is paid.

Frequently asked

Is Green Tax charged on FOB or CIF? CIF — the same base as duty and the NAC levy. Freight and insurance are inside the number, which is why a long freight leg raises this tax slightly along with everything else.

Do electric cars pay it? No. The exemption covers engines under 2,000cc, electric vehicles, buses and locally assembled vehicles. A used EV therefore sits in the free band on this line, though it still pays duty, levy and VAT like any other import.

Did Green Tax replace the NAC levy? No. Both changed on 1 July 2026: the levy on used vehicles fell from 15% to 5%, and the Green Tax was introduced. The net effect is a lower bill for almost every used car under four litres.

How is the engine size checked? From the vehicle's documents and the engine itself, not from the advert. A 2.0 advertised as a 1.8 is the importer's problem at assessment, and the assessment is done before the car is released. Ask for the specification sheet with the VIN on it.