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Old vs new: what the 2026 measures did to your clearing bill
Two regimes are being taught as “current” across the internet — sometimes by the same website, on different pages. This tool prices one car under both, side by side, so the difference is a set of named lines rather than an argument.
The worked example: a used 2,494cc car, CIF ₦12,000,000, FOB ₦10,200,000. Old stack: ₦6,020,100 (50.2% of CIF). New stack: ₦5,036,100 (42.0%). Difference: ₦984,000 cheaper — driven by the NAC levy cut (−₦1,200,000), partly offset by the dead 1% CISS being replaced by the 4% FOB levy (+₦306,000) and the VAT interaction. The Green Tax line is ₦240,000 in both columns: the bands never changed, only the name did.
Compare the same car under both regimes
Petrol or diesel car. The old column prices the pre-April-2026 stack (the 2023 measures as applied); the new column prices the full 2026 stack from 1 July 2026 — the same car, the same values, nothing else changed.
What changed, and what only changed its name
Really changed: the NAC levy — 15% down to 5% on used cars (20% to 10% on new cars, as reported) from 1 July 2026. That single line is worth more than everything else in the 2026 package combined, on most cars. Really changed: the headline tariff — the total effective tariff on a fully built car restated at 40% of CIF from 1 April 2026, down from 70% in the 2015 policy. Really changed: CISS, the 1%-of-FOB charge, was abolished and replaced by a 4% FOB levy whose collection status is contested. Only renamed: the engine levy. The 2023 measures already charged 0% / 2% / 4% by engine size as an Import Adjustment Tax; the 2026 measures call the identical bands the Green Tax Surcharge. Any guide that presents the Green Tax as a brand-new cost — or the saving as coming from it — has the story backwards. The NAC levy guide and the Green Tax guide take each in turn.
Questions
Did the 2026 measures actually make it cheaper to clear a car?
For a typical used car, yes — on the worked example used on this page (2,494cc, CIF ₦12,000,000) the customs bill falls from ₦6,020,100 under the old stack to ₦5,036,100 under the 2026 stack, a saving of ₦984,000. But the saving comes from the NAC levy cut (15% down to 5%), not from the Green Tax that most headlines credit — the engine levy bands were identical before the change; the levy was renamed, not introduced.
What exactly changed on 1 April 2026?
The tariff position: the 2026 Fiscal Policy Measures superseded the 2023 measures and restated the fully built car total effective tariff at 40% of CIF, down from the 70% figure in the 2015 policy. Importers who had opened Form M before 1 April were given a 90-day grace to clear at the previous rates.
What changed on 1 July 2026?
The levies: the NAC levy was cut (15% to 5% on used cars; 20% to 10% on new cars, as reported), and the engine levy began to be charged under its new name, the Green Tax Surcharge, with the same 0% / 2% / 4% bands by engine size that the 2023 measures already contained.
My agent’s quote uses the old rates. Who is right?
It depends on your Form M date. A car whose Form M predates April 2026 is legitimately priced on the old stack — that is the regime gate this page applies. A car being imported now should be priced on the post-July stack. Price your car in both columns above and ask the agent which regime — and which Form M date — their quote assumes.