Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, is urging Nigerians to file their annual tax returns.
Both employers and individuals are expected to comply, but he said many haven’t met self-assessment filing requirements.
Oyedele made the call during a webinar organised for HR managers, payroll officers, chief financial officers and tax managers in collaboration with the Joint Revenue Board.
While speaking in the webinar on Friday, the tax czar noted that a large number of Nigerians have failed to meet self-assessment filing requirements.
“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 said.
He also stressed that individuals are legally required to submit their own self-assessment returns, pointing out that compliance levels remain extremely low across the country.
“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 added.
He explained that tax reforms have clarified that employees’ responsibilities do not end once taxes are deducted at source by their employers.
“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 taxpayers that efforts are underway to simplify the filing process, adding that low-income earners are not exempt from the requirement.
“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 further disclosed that companies benefiting from tax incentives are now mandated to declare such incentives when submitting their returns.
“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.”
