The ITF (Industrial Training Fund) is a Nigerian government agency that funds workforce training, financed by a levy of 1% of annual payroll paid by qualifying employers.
Not every business pays. The levy applies to employers with 5 or more employees OR annual turnover of ₦50 million and above. If you're a three-person startup below that turnover, ITF isn't your problem yet, but the moment you cross either threshold, it is.
Like NSITF, this is an employer cost, nothing is deducted from any employee's salary. Unlike PAYE or pension, it's annual rather than monthly: you calculate 1% of your total payroll for the year and remit it to the ITF.
There's a give-back side that many employers never use: companies that train their staff, through ITF-approved programmes, industrial attachments (SIWES students count), or structured in-house training, can apply for a partial refund of up to half of the levy they paid. In effect, the ITF taxes employers who don't train and partially reimburses those who do.
Nigerian example: an Ibadan manufacturing company has 20 staff and a total annual payroll of ₦60,000,000. Its ITF levy is 1% = ₦600,000 for the year. Because it hosted SIWES students and ran ITF-approved technical training, it applies for a partial refund.
An ITF compliance certificate is also a standard requirement for government contracts, a practical reason to stay current even if enforcement feels distant.
See the full employer checklist in statutory deductions in Nigeria, and the monthly cousin of this levy at NSITF.