The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has urged Nigerians to comply with the law by filing their annual tax returns on or before March 31.

Oyedele stressed that both employers and individual taxpayers are legally required to file returns, regardless of whether taxes have already been deducted at source.

He 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. The webinar was posted on YouTube on Friday.

Speaking during the session, Oyedele lamented the low level of compliance with self-assessment filing across the country.

“In terms of filing returns, employers are required to file annual returns for their employees. Many of you may have done that already, but if you haven’t, you only have a few days left to do so, including submitting projections of staff earnings,” he said.

He added that individual taxpayers must also file their own self-assessment returns, noting that compliance in this area remains extremely poor.

“This is one area where we have been largely non-compliant in Nigeria. In many states, even the most sophisticated ones, more than 90 per cent of taxpayers do not file returns. Some states cannot even boast of five per cent compliance,” Oyedele said.

Oyedele explained that the ongoing tax reforms clearly state that employees’ obligations do not end with deductions made by their employers.

“Many people assume that once they are employees and their employers have deducted their taxes, they don’t have to do anything further. That is incorrect. Under both the old and new tax laws, individuals are still required to file their returns,” he said.

He assured Nigerians that tax authorities are taking steps to simplify the filing process.

“I am confident that tax authorities, the Joint Revenue Board and state internal revenue services are working to make this process simpler and more user-friendly. Everyone must file their returns, including low-income earners.

Returns must be filed by March 31 each year in respect of the preceding fiscal year,” he added.

Oyedele also disclosed that businesses benefiting from tax incentives are now required to make full disclosures in their tax filings.

“Under the new tax law, enterprises enjoying tax incentives have a legal obligation to disclose such incentives when filing their returns or shortly thereafter. This disclosure requirement is now mandatory,” he said.