In short: Filing in Nigeria is several small, regular returns rather than one big one. Salary earners are mostly filed for by their employer but still owe an annual return to their state. Businesses file monthly VAT and withholding returns to the NRS and an annual company income tax return within six months of year end. Everything is filed against your TIN through a portal, and the penalties are for not filing, not only for not paying.
Who files what
| Taxpayer | Return | To whom | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee | Annual return of income (Form A) | State internal revenue service | 31 March |
| Employer | Monthly PAYE remittance | State IRS | 10th of the following month |
| Employer | Annual PAYE return (Form H1) | State IRS | 31 January |
| VAT-registered business | Monthly VAT return | NRS | 21st of the following month |
| Anyone who deducted WHT | Monthly WHT return and remittance | NRS (or state IRS for individuals' income) | 21st of the following month |
| Company | Company income tax return and audited accounts | NRS | 6 months after year end; 18 months from incorporation for a new company, whichever is earlier |
| Self-employed individual | Annual self-assessment | State IRS | 31 March |
Personal income tax is a state tax: Lagos residents deal with the LIRS, others with their state's board of internal revenue. Company income tax, VAT and withholding tax on corporate payments are federal, filed with the NRS. The tax deadlines calendar lists every date in one place.
Step one: be registered
Every return is filed against a TIN. If you do not have one, or cannot find it, start with how to get a TIN in Nigeria. Companies also need a portal account with the NRS, and a VAT registration if turnover is above the small-company threshold.
Filing as an individual
Even if your employer deducts PAYE every month, you owe your state an annual return by 31 March covering the previous year: all income, the tax already deducted, and the reliefs you claim. Rent relief, which replaced the Consolidated Relief Allowance under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, needs evidence of rent paid. Self-employed people declare business income and expenses on the same return and pay what is due. Most states have an online portal; Lagos uses LIRS e-Tax. The PAYE calculator shows what should have been deducted so you can check your employer's figures.
Filing as an employer
Two obligations. Monthly: remit the PAYE you deducted from staff by the 10th of the following month, to the state where each employee lives, with a schedule of who paid what. Annually: file the annual return by 31 January listing every employee, their gross pay, reliefs and tax for the year. Miss the annual return and your staff cannot get a tax clearance certificate, which is the complaint that reaches you first. Under the 2025 Act, employees on the ₦70,000 minimum wage or below are exempt; they still appear on the return with zero tax.
VAT and withholding tax
If you charge VAT, file a monthly VAT return by the 21st showing output VAT on sales, input VAT on purchases, and pay the difference. Businesses below the threshold do not register and do not file. The VAT calculator works the figures for any amount.
If you deducted withholding tax from a payment to a vendor, remit it by the 21st of the following month with a schedule of the payees and their TINs. The vendor gets a credit note they can use against their own tax. The withholding tax calculator shows the deduction and the remittance date for any payment.
Filing as a company
Companies file a self-assessment return with the NRS within six months of the end of their financial year: audited financial statements, the tax computation, the capital allowance schedule and the completed return form. Payment is due with the return, or in instalments approved in advance. Small companies pay 0% but must still file. The development levy of 4% on assessable profits is returned alongside company income tax by companies that are not small.
Filing is done through the NRS online portal. The platform has been changing as the NRS replaces FIRS systems; whichever portal is current, the return, the accounts and the payment reference are what you submit.
Penalties for filing late
The Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 raised the penalty for failing to file a return to ₦100,000 for the first month and ₦50,000 for each further month, on top of interest on any unpaid tax. Confirm the figure that applies to your return in the Act's schedule, because the penalty attaches to the failure to file, not only to unpaid tax: a small company that owes nothing and files nothing is still fined.
What to keep
Six years of invoices, receipts, bank statements, payroll schedules and filed returns. The bank statement converter turns a year of statements into a spreadsheet for the accountant, and ereQa keeps invoices and bills matched to payments so the year-end pack is a report, not a search.
Tax clearance certificate
A TCC confirms you have filed and paid for the last three years. Banks, government tenders and many corporate vendor forms ask for it. It is issued by the state IRS for individuals and the NRS for companies, and it is refused for any year with a missing return. That is the practical reason to file even when nothing is owed.