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The NAC levy, explained: 5%, not 15%
The NAC levy is the single line that made importing a car cheaper in 2026 — and the line the internet most reliably gets wrong, because for years the old rate was the right answer and nobody went back to change it.
The rates: on a used car, the NAC levy is 5% of CIF from 1 July 2026, cut from 15%. On a new car it is reported cut from 20% to 10% on the same date — that second figure rests on one reporting cluster and is labelled REPORTED wherever this site uses it. Before July 2026, 15% and 20% were correct; a guide quoting them today, without a date, is quoting a dead rate.
What the levy is for
The NAC levy is collected under the National Automotive Council's programme — the body charged with building a local vehicle-assembly industry — and it is priced into imported vehicles precisely to narrow the gap between an imported car and a locally assembled one. Whether it has achieved that is a policy argument this page takes no side in; what matters for your wallet is mechanical: it is charged on the car's CIF value, collected with the duty, and for a used car it was, until July 2026, the second-largest line in the stack after the duty itself.
The cut, in naira
On the comparator's worked car — used, 2,494cc, CIF ₦12,000,000 — the levy falls from ₦1,800,000 at 15% to ₦600,000 at 5%: a ₦1,200,000 reduction, larger than the entire net saving of ₦984,000 the 2026 measures deliver on that car once the FOB levy's increase and the VAT interaction are netted off. In other words: the NAC cut is the 2026 story. The Green Tax, which took the headlines, changed nothing on that car at all — its ₦240,000 line is identical in both regimes. Price both regimes yourself in the comparator.
Why the old rate will not die
Three reasons, all visible in the wild. First, 15% was correct for a long time, so it is baked into years of guides, videos and agent templates. Second, regime changes in this niche arrive by circular, not by campaign — there is no announcement an importer can point to, only implementation reporting by the trade press in July and August 2026. Third, and most instructively, at least one leading site's calculator charges the new 5% while its own guides still teach 15% — the two halves of the same website disagreeing about the same car. The defence is the habit this site is built around: for every rate, ask which regime, from what date, from what source. Our rates page answers all three for the NAC levy and everything beside it.
One honest flag on the new-car rate
The used-car cut to 5% is settled across multiple independent reports of the July 2026 implementation. The new-car cut to 10% rests on the same cluster of reporting, and one fact-check line — citing Customs fee tables — disputes that the NAC levy changed at all. We use 10% for new cars, label it REPORTED in the calculator and on the rates page, and re-check it at every fiscal pass. If you are importing a new car, that is the line to confirm on your assessment first.
Questions
What is the NAC levy on imported cars in Nigeria?
A levy on imported vehicles, charged under the National Automotive Council’s programme to fund the development of local vehicle assembly. It is worked out on the CIF value. From 1 July 2026 it stands at 5% for used cars, cut from 15%; for new cars it is reported cut from 20% to 10%. It is a levy on the importer, collected with the duty — not a fee for any service at the port.
Why do so many guides still say the NAC levy is 15%?
Because for years it was — 15% on used cars was the settled rate under the 2023 measures — and pages written before July 2026 were never updated. At least one major site charges 5% in its calculator while its own guides still apply 15%. The rate that applies to your car is the one in force for your Form M date; anything else is archaeology.