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The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has called on Nigerians to meet their legal obligations by filing annual tax returns, stressing that both employers and individual taxpayers must comply.
Oyedele made the appeal during a webinar for HR managers, payroll officers, chief financial officers, and tax managers, held in partnership with the Joint Revenue Board. The session was shared on YouTube on Friday.
He noted that while some organisations have complied with employer obligations, many are yet to meet the official deadline.
“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,” Oyedele said.
Turning to individual taxpayers, he highlighted widespread non-compliance with self-assessment requirements 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,” he stated.
Oyedele clarified that deductions made by employers do not absolve employees of their responsibility to file tax returns.
“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,” he explained.
Assuring Nigerians that authorities are working to simplify the filing process, Oyedele said compliance would become easier.
“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 added.
He also stressed new obligations for businesses benefiting from tax incentives under the reformed tax framework.
“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,” Oyedele said.
This announcement reinforces the need for taxpayers to comply fully with both existing and new tax regulations.
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