Find out how to file tax on the LIRS eTax portal: A step-by-step information

You probably have been making an attempt to determine file taxes in Lagos, this information covers every thing you want. The Lagos State Inner Income Service (LIRS) eTax portal at etax.lirs.web is the one permitted platform for submitting your annual private earnings tax return, with a deadline of April 14, 2026. Each Lagos resident incomes earnings should file, together with salaried staff. Even when your organization deducts PAYE out of your wage each month and remits it to the federal government, you’re nonetheless legally required to file your individual particular person return. Your employer’s fee doesn’t cowl your submitting obligation. That is the primary submitting season below Nigeria’s sweeping 2025 tax reform legal guidelines, which launched new tax bands, abolished the outdated Consolidated Aid Allowance, and made digital submitting the one acceptable technique.

Beneath is every thing it’s essential to know, from required paperwork and step-by-step portal navigation to actual penalty figures and post-filing steps.

Why was the deadline moved to April 14?

On March 31, 2026, LIRS Government Chairman, Dr Ayodele Subair, introduced a two-week extension of the person annual earnings tax return deadline, pushing it from the statutory March 31 to April 14, 2026. 

The press assertion, signed by Head of Company Communications, Monsurat Amasa-Oyelude, described it as a one-off measure to ease compliance and provides taxpayers extra time to finish and submit correct tax returns.

The official assertion didn’t point out portal issues. However Technext broke a narrative on March 30: the LIRS eTax portal at etax.lirs.web had skilled widespread technical difficulties simply sooner or later earlier than the unique deadline. Customers reported hours of failed entry makes an attempt, submission errors, and an incapability to finish filings. One consumer famous: “That is what’s anticipated of a platform possible designed for a number of thousand customers per day, out of the blue wanted to be accessed by hundreds of thousands.” Since guide submitting has been utterly phased out, taxpayers had no different.

This was not an remoted occasion. Earlier in 2026, LIRS additionally prolonged the employer annual returns deadline from February 1 to February 7, signalling a sample of administrative flexibility below the brand new tax regime.

LIRS described the extension as a one-off measure. After April 14, penalties below the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA) 2025 kick in: N100,000 for the primary month of default, plus N50,000 for every subsequent month.

What counts as “earnings” below the Nigeria Tax Act 2025?

The NTA 2025 defines ‘earnings’ broadly. Part 4 of the Act spells out each class of earnings, income, or features which are chargeable to tax. The regulation doesn’t restrict earnings to your wage or your enterprise revenue. It captures virtually each approach cash can come to you.

Here’s what counts as taxable earnings:

• Employment earnings — your wage, wages, charges, allowances, bonuses, commissions, gratuity, and another profit your employer offers you, together with issues like an organization automobile or rent-free lodging
• Enterprise and commerce earnings — revenue from any commerce, enterprise, or industrial exercise. This contains promoting fragrance from dwelling, baking and promoting meals, operating a logistics operation out of your cellphone, or any buying-and-selling exercise, irrespective of how small
• Skilled earnings — charges earned from skilled companies. This is applicable to attorneys, docs, consultants, photographers, make-up artists, occasion planners, and any one that earns cash by rendering a service
• Funding earnings — curiosity from financial savings accounts, dividends from shares, hire collected from property you personal, and royalties
• Digital and digital asset features — revenue from shopping for and promoting crypto, NFTs, or another digital asset
• Different sources — prizes, winnings, honoraria, grants, awards, reductions, rebates, and earnings from promoting private property or fastened property

The brink is N800,000 per yr. In case your whole earnings from all of the sources above is N800,000 or much less yearly, your tax is 0%. However you’re nonetheless required to file a return.

Who must file taxes in Lagos?

One of many greatest misconceptions in Nigerian tax compliance is the idea that salaried staff whose employers deduct Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) tax don’t must file annual returns. That is unsuitable. Part 14(3) of the NTAA 2025 explicitly resolves a long-standing ambiguity within the outdated Private Earnings Tax Act: staff should file their very own annual returns of earnings from all sources, however the employer’s separate submitting obligation below Part 14(1)-(2).

LIRS has said this straight: “Submitting annual tax returns just isn’t optionally available; it’s a authorized requirement below the NTAA 2025. Whereas many staff imagine their tax obligations finish with PAYE deductions by employers, the LIRS clarifies that people should nonetheless file returns.” Taiwo Oyedele, Minister of State for Finance and Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Coverage and Tax Reforms Committee, bolstered the purpose, noting that “the tax reforms make clear that staff can’t assume their obligations finish as soon as employers deduct taxes from their salaries.”

Listed here are the classes of individuals legally required to file taxes in Lagos, below Part 13 of the NTAA 2025:

• Salaried/PAYE staff – Even when your employer already recordsdata PAYE returns and deducts tax month-to-month, you will need to file a person annual return declaring all earnings sources. This contains your wage, any aspect companies, freelance work, rental earnings, and dividends.
• Self-employed people, freelancers, and gig employees – This contains digital creators, consultants, and anybody incomes from on-line platforms. The NTA 2025 expressly brings digital/digital asset features, prizes, honoraria, and nontraditional earnings into the tax web.
• Enterprise homeowners – Sole proprietors file as people below private earnings tax. Partnerships are addressed below Part 15 of the NTA 2025.
• Professionals – Legal professionals, docs, accountants, engineers, and others in skilled apply. Skilled companies companies are particularly excluded from the small enterprise CIT exemption no matter turnover.
• Casual sector employees – Market merchants, artisans, and small enterprise operators. Part 15 of the NTAA 2025 permits simplified returns for low-income earners. A 1% presumptive tax on annual turnover applies to companies with out formal information.

Even people with earnings beneath the taxable threshold can submit a zero return. The submitting obligation is common; solely the tax legal responsibility could also be zero.

What you want earlier than you begin submitting on the LIRS eTax portal

Collect these paperwork and data earlier than logging onto the eTax portal. Lacking gadgets will stall the method.

• Your Tax Identification Quantity (TIN): That is probably the most essential requirement. LIRS assigns this as a “Payer ID” beginning with an “N-” prefix. In the event you don’t have one, you’ll be able to register straight on etax.lirs.web. You probably have been on an employer’s payroll, your HR division could have already got your TIN. You may as well confirm whether or not you’ve gotten one via the Joint Tax Board’s TIN portal at tin.jtb.gov.ng utilizing your NIN.
• BVN or NIN: You want both your Financial institution Verification Quantity or Nationwide Identification Quantity to register on the eTax portal. Just one is required.
• Earnings information from all sources for January to December 2025: This contains wage/wages, commissions, commerce or enterprise earnings, allowances, pension earnings, curiosity from financial savings and investments, rental earnings, dividends, overseas earnings, gratuities, and earnings from digital platforms or freelance work.
• H1 Kind / Kind A out of your employer: Kind H1 is filed by employers with LIRS, displaying annual earnings and PAYE deductions for every worker. Kind A is the person’s return of earnings and claims for reliefs. Earlier than submitting, test “Employer Filed Returns” in your eTax dashboard to confirm what your employer has reported for you.
• Supporting paperwork: Payslips, financial institution statements (particularly for self-employed people), monetary statements (for enterprise homeowners), hire receipts (if claiming hire aid), proof of pension contributions, proof of NHF contributions, NHIS contribution information, life insurance coverage premium receipts, and a current passport {photograph}. The picture is required in your profile and for producing a Tax Clearance Certificates later.
• Reliefs and deductions you’ll be able to declare below the NTA 2025: The N800,000 tax-free threshold (constructed into the 0% band), hire aid of 20% of annual hire paid as much as N500,000, pension contributions (worker’s 8%), Nationwide Housing Fund contributions (2.5% of fundamental wage), NHIS contributions, life insurance coverage premiums, and curiosity on housing loans for owner-occupied residences. Word that the outdated Consolidated Aid Allowance (N200,000 + 20% of gross earnings) has been abolished.

See the complete listing of fifty tax exemptions and reliefs below the brand new regulation.

Find out how to file taxes on the LIRS eTax portal: Step-by-step

1. Step 1: Create an account on the LIRS eTax portal (new customers)

Go to https://etax.lirs.web in your browser. Click on “Register as Taxpayer” within the prime proper nook of the homepage. On the registration type, choose “Particular person” from the Choose Tax Payer Kind dropdown, then select your Identification System Kind (BVN or NIN), enter the quantity and your date of delivery, test the reCAPTCHA field, and click on “Proceed.”

On the following web page, fill in your private particulars: title, identify, e mail, cellphone quantity, occupation, marital standing, nationality, gender, full deal with (avenue identify, quantity, state, LCDA, and LGA), and choose your nearest Tax Station from the dropdown. If requested whether or not you’re a public servant, choose accordingly. Selecting “No” helps you to seek for your enterprise sort and enter your occupation.

Click on “Submit.” Your Taxpayer ID can be despatched to your e mail together with a immediate to set a password. On the password setup web page, enter your Taxpayer ID, click on “Proceed,” enter the 6-digit OTP despatched to your e mail, and create a password. The password should embody not less than one capital letter, one quantity, and a particular character (akin to # or @). Click on “Proceed” to complete. If you have already got an account, click on “Already Have an Account? Login Right here” as a substitute.

2. Step 2: Log in to the LIRS eTax portal (current customers)

Go to etax.lirs.web. You will notice a “Choose Login Kind” display screen with 4 choices: Taxpayer, Company Admin, Marketing consultant, and LIRS Admin. Choose “Taxpayer”; that is the choice for people and company taxpayers. On the login type, enter your Payer ID within the area marked “There ought to be a prefix ‘N-‘ or ‘C-‘” and enter your password, then click on the inexperienced “Login” button. In the event you forgot your Payer ID, click on “Forgot Payer ID?” In the event you forgot your password, click on “Forgot Password?” Each choices are on the login type. In case you are registering for the primary time, click on “Create New Payer ID” as a substitute.

3. Step 3: Replace your profile earlier than submitting

After logging in, confirm your profile is full. Verify that your deal with, cellphone quantity, e mail, and passport {photograph} are all updated. The picture is required to generate a Tax Clearance Certificates. If something is lacking, use the Chat Field within the bottom-right nook of the display screen for assist. You may as well add household particulars (partner and youngsters’s Taxpayer IDs) by clicking “FAMILY RELATIONS” on the inexperienced bar on the backside of your profile web page.

4. Step 4: Verify what your employer has already reported

Click on “RETURNS” on the left-side dashboard menu, then click on “EMPLOYER FILED RETURNS.” Confirm that returns for not less than three years are displayed (2023, 2024, and 2025 for the present TCC cycle). Write down your gross earnings for annually. If any yr is lacking, contact your employer’s Human Sources division instantly.

5. Step 5: File your annual tax return

Click on “RETURNS” on the dashboard, then “MY TAX RETURNS,” then click on the “FILE RETURNS HERE” button within the prime proper nook. Choose the Evaluation 12 months. Select 2025 for the present submitting, or begin with the earliest yr if it’s essential to file a number of years.

On the Assertion of Earnings web page, fill in all relevant earnings fields: employer identify, wage, fee, commerce/enterprise earnings, allowances, pension earnings, curiosity, hire obtained, dividends, and overseas earnings. Scroll down and click on “NEXT.”

The following web page requires Necessary Disclosure of Lodging. Enter your residential deal with, lodging sort (hire or self-owned), and possession sort (tenant or proprietor). Present hire quantities and landlord particulars if relevant. Click on “NEXT.”

On the Different Disclosure for Reliefs web page, enter claims for all times assurance premiums, NHF contributions, gratuities obtained, NHIS contributions, and pension contributions (usually 8% of annual earnings for workers). Add supporting paperwork the place required. Click on “FILE RETURNS” (or “SUBMIT”) to finish the submitting.

If it’s essential to file for a number of years, repeat the method for every extra yr (2023, 2024) earlier than requesting TCC approval.

6. Step 6: Request approval after submission

Use the Chat Field within the bottom-right nook of the display screen to request approval in your submissions. LIRS will overview and lift tax assessments based mostly in your returns. If tax is owed past what PAYE has already lined, you’ll be able to pay via the portal’s in-app fee channels or generate a Invoice Reference and pay at any Lagos State Authorities-designated revenue-collecting financial institution. For the complete listing of accepted banks, go to the LIRS FAQ or name 0700-CALL-LIRS (0700-2255-5477).

Don’t agree together with your tax invoice? Nigeria’s new regulation offers you 30 days to object

Penalties for not submitting your tax return by April 14

The NTAA 2025 changed the outdated prison penalties for submitting failures with administrative penalties, however the monetary penalties stay critical.

Part 101 of the NTAA 2025 imposes a penalty of N100,000 for the primary month of default and N50,000 for every subsequent month the failure continues. These penalties apply whether or not you owe extra tax or not. Even failing to file a zero return triggers them.

In the event you file late however nonetheless file, you face the progressive month-to-month penalties plus 10% of any unpaid tax as a late fee surcharge, plus curiosity on the prevailing CBN Financial Coverage Fee (which has been within the 18-27% vary in recent times) on any excellent quantity.

If you don’t file in any respect, the results escalate additional. Past the month-to-month penalties, LIRS can:

• Concern an Administrative Evaluation below Part 34 of the NTAA 2025, the place they estimate your tax legal responsibility utilizing no matter data is out there. If you don’t formally object inside 30 days of receiving it, the assessed quantity turns into legally binding, even whether it is greater than what you really owe.
• Appoint your financial institution as a restoration agent to deduct the quantity straight out of your account.
• Assign the debt to third-party collectors below Part 68.
• Seize and promote property (items, property, bonds) below Part 61.

On January 21, 2026, LIRS issued seven Public Notices signalling lively enforcement of those NTAA powers, together with checking account restoration and property distraint.

Different penalties within the NTAA framework embody:

• N50,000 plus N25,000/month for failure to register for a TIN (Part 100)
• N10,000 for people who fail to keep up books and information (Part 102)
• Prison penalties of as much as N20 million plus N2 million per day for failure to adjust to a discover from the tax authority (Part 130)

What occurs after you file? Getting your Tax Clearance Certificates

The Tax Clearance Certificates (TCC) is the sensible payoff of submitting your tax return. Beneath Part 72(2) of the NTAA 2025, it’s required for an increasing listing of transactions:

• Authorities contracts
• Enterprise registration with the Company Affairs Fee
• Constructing plan approvals
• International change transactions (together with Private Journey Allowance (PTA), Enterprise Journey Allowance (BTA), and worldwide college charges)
• Certificates of occupancy
• Authorities loans
• Motorcar registration
• Commerce licences and public appointments
• Free West African Senior College Certificates Examination (WASSCE) registration in your youngsters in Lagos (dad and mom’ TCC is now required)

LIRS now points an digital TCC (eTCC) with a novel Certificates Quantity and scannable QR Code. To generate it, six circumstances should be met:

• You have got filed annual returns for the final three years (each employer-filed and individual-filed)
• You have got uploaded a current passport {photograph} to your eTax profile
• You have got up to date your full deal with
• You have got obtained tax assessments for the final three years
• You have got absolutely paid all taxes due
• You have got accomplished your profile

As soon as all circumstances are met, log in to etax.lirs.web and navigate to the “DOWNLOAD TCC” icon on the inexperienced bar after the profile part (or click on “TCC” on the inexperienced bar). You will notice a TCC Guidelines web page displaying whether or not all circumstances are happy. If every thing checks out, you’ll be directed to a TCC Preview web page displaying your picture, employer particulars, occupation, whole earnings, tax paid, certificates quantity, and QR code. Click on the obtain icon to get a mushy copy, or print for a tough copy.

The method is automated. If all circumstances are met, you’ll be able to generate the eTCC immediately. The statutory timeline is 2 weeks from the date of demand, however the digital system usually delivers same-day outcomes.

To confirm any TCC’s authenticity, scan the QR code or enter the Certificates Quantity at https://etax.lirs.web/tccverification/.

Incessantly requested questions on submitting taxes on the LIRS eTax portal

1) Do PAYE employees actually need to file taxes in Lagos?

Sure. Part 14(3) of the NTAA 2025 makes this unambiguous. PAYE is a withholding mechanism, not an alternative to submitting. Your employer can solely report the earnings they pay you. You have to declare all earnings from all sources, confirm that your PAYE deductions had been correct, and procure your TCC.

2) What if I’ve a number of earnings sources?

You have to declare each supply in a single annual return on the eTax portal. This contains wage, freelance charges, enterprise income, rental earnings, dividends, curiosity, digital asset features, and overseas earnings. Every earnings sort has a devoted area.

3) How do I get a TIN if I wouldn’t have one?

Register on etax.lirs.web utilizing both your BVN or NIN. Your Taxpayer ID (beginning with “N-“) can be emailed to you. You may as well test whether or not a TIN has been beforehand assigned via tin.jtb.gov.ng.

4) What if I’ve by no means filed taxes earlier than?

Register on the LIRS eTax portal instantly and start submitting. It’s possible you’ll must file returns for a number of prior years to qualify for a TCC (which requires three years of filed returns). LIRS treats voluntary disclosure extra favourably than catching non-compliance via enforcement.

5) What if I missed the April 14 deadline?

File as quickly as attainable. The month-to-month penalties of N100,000 for the primary month and N50,000 for every subsequent month accrue from the day after the deadline. Submitting late is considerably higher than not submitting in any respect. Non-filers threat Administrative Assessments that turn into binding if not challenged inside 30 days, in addition to direct restoration from financial institution accounts.

6) Is there a penalty for first-time non-filers?

Sure. The identical penalty construction applies no matter whether or not it’s your first time. Nonetheless, LIRS has traditionally prioritised bringing individuals into the tax web via training earlier than strict enforcement.

7) What if the LIRS eTax portal goes down once more?

LIRS describes the eTax platform as out there 24/7, however the March 30 outage proved in any other case. In the event you encounter points, strive once more throughout off-peak hours (early morning or late night time). You may as well name LIRS at 0700-CALL-LIRS (0700-2255-5477), e mail enquiries@lirs.gov.ng, or go to your nearest LIRS workplace for in-person help with the digital course of. Guide/paper submitting just isn’t an possibility; all returns should undergo the portal.

8) Can I file taxes at an LIRS workplace?

Paper submitting is totally phased out. However you’ll be able to go to any LIRS workplace for steerage and assist navigating the portal.

9) What about casual sector employees?

Market merchants, artisans, and small enterprise operators are anticipated to conform. A 1% presumptive tax on annual turnover applies to companies with out formal information. Lagos has traditionally taxed casual employees via commerce unions, with a minimal annual tax of roughly N8,100. Money assortment by tax officers is banned below the brand new regulation; all funds should undergo digital or official channels.

What Nigeria’s 2025 tax reform modified

On June 26, 2025, President Bola Tinubu signed 4 landmark tax payments into regulation, efficient January 1, 2026: the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA), the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA), the Nigeria Income Service Institution Act, and the Joint Income Board Institution Act. That is probably the most complete tax overhaul since independence, consolidating the Private Earnings Tax Act, Firms Earnings Tax Act, Capital Good points Tax Act, VAT Act, and several other different statutes right into a unified framework.

For particular person taxpayers, probably the most important change is the brand new progressive tax fee construction:

• 0% on the primary N800,000 of taxable earnings (successfully taking minimal wage earners out of the tax web)
• 15% on earnings from N800,001 to N3 million
• 18% on earnings from N3 million to N12 million
• 21% on earnings from N12 million to N25 million
• 23% on earnings from N25 million to N50 million
• 25% on earnings above N50 million (up from the earlier 24%)

In keeping with KPMG, one of many world’s main skilled companies companies, most employees incomes between N1.5 million and N25 million yearly ought to see their web pay improve.

Different key modifications embody:

• The Consolidated Aid Allowance is gone. The outdated CRA of N200,000 plus 20% of gross earnings has been changed by a Hire Aid of 20% of annual hire paid, capped at N500,000. Householders who don’t pay hire lose this deduction fully and rely solely on the 0% band.
• Capital features are actually taxed on the relevant progressive PIT fee somewhat than the outdated flat 10%.
• Gratuities and pension earnings are actually taxable.
• Digital and digital asset features, prizes, honoraria, and grants are expressly included in taxable earnings for the primary time.
• The NTAA changed prison penalties for submitting failures with administrative ones (the N100,000/N50,000 month-to-month construction).
• A Tax Ombudsman has been established to resolve disputes, alongside highly effective enforcement instruments akin to checking account restoration and asset seizure.

LIRS’s 2026 income goal of N2.83 trillion, greater than double current collections, alerts aggressive enforcement forward. As CITN President Harmless Ohagwa put it: “Submitting tax returns is a constitutional requirement, not a suggestion. Compliance isn’t just about income; it’s about gaining the best to demand higher governance.”

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