The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has urged all Nigerians to file their annual tax returns, stressing that both employers and individuals are required to comply by law.
Speaking during a webinar for HR managers, payroll officers, and tax professionals on Friday, Oyedele noted that compliance with self-assessment filings remains very low across the country.
“In terms of filing returns, you need to file annual returns as employers for your employees. Many of you must have done that already. If you haven’t, you have just a couple of days left to file those returns, including projections of how much you will pay your staff,” he stated.
He emphasized that individual taxpayers must also file their self-assessment returns. “This is one area where we have been non-compliant in Nigeria. In many states, more than 90%—even the most sophisticated states—cannot boast of 5% filing returns,” Oyedele said.
He clarified that employees cannot assume their tax obligations end once their employer deducts taxes from their salaries. “Many people assume that if they are an employee and the employer has deducted pay, they don’t have to do anything. That is wrong. Both under the old and new tax laws, you must still file your returns.”
Oyedele assured that tax authorities are working to simplify the filing process. “I’m sure the tax authorities, joint revenue boards, and various state internal revenue services are working on how to make this process simpler and easier. All of us must file our returns, including those earning low income. You must file returns by 31st March of the year in respect of the previous fiscal year.”
He also highlighted a new requirement for businesses benefiting from tax incentives. “Under the new tax law, if you operate a business as an enterprise and you enjoy certain incentives, you have the obligation to disclose those incentives. There’s a disclosure requirement for tax incentives that is not available to everybody as a general rule for taxpayers—to disclose them when filing their tax returns or shortly after.”
