The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has called on Nigerians to ensure they submit their yearly tax returns, stressing that compliance is mandatory for both individuals and employers.
Oyedele made the appeal during a webinar organized in partnership with the Joint Revenue Board, targeted at HR professionals, payroll administrators, chief financial officers, and tax managers.
The session was later uploaded to YouTube on Friday, January 30, 2026.
“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.
Poor Compliance Among Individuals
He noted that individuals are equally required to submit self-assessment tax returns, but compliance remains alarmingly poor nationwide.
“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 explained.
Oyedele stressed that recent tax reforms make it clear that workers cannot rely solely on deductions made by their employers to fulfill their legal responsibilities.
“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 added.
Simplifying the Process
The committee chairman reassured citizens that efforts are underway to simplify the filing process and encourage broader participation.
“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,” Oyedele said.
Oyedele also disclosed that companies benefiting from tax incentives now have an added responsibility under the updated 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,” he explained.
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